La Poësie / De Dichtkonst 1693

This is a page from Charles Perrault’s “Cabinet des beaux arts”, printed sometime in the late 17th century. Perrault was a leading French intellectual and member of the Académie Française, an institution that sought to regulate and refine artistic and literary taste. Here, Perrault offers a visual and textual defence of poetry and the arts. In the text, provided in both French and Dutch, he claims that poetry sings of heroes and faithful shepherds, explains matters of the heart, and gives pleasure. He then outlines some rules for poetry. At the bottom are three children blowing trumpets who represent the different types of poetry. This was a period when the arts were increasingly governed by institutions like the Académie. Perrault here seems to be defending the value of poetry against more rigid academic interpretations. To understand this image, scholars can turn to the archives of the Académie Française and other literary and artistic institutions of the period.