Page from a Scrapbook containing Drawings and Several Prints of Architecture, Interiors, Furniture and Other Objects 1795 - 1805

This is a page from a scrapbook by Charles Percier, filled with drawings and prints of architecture, interiors, furniture and other objects. Percier lived through the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era, a time of massive social upheaval and reinvention of the French state, which heavily influenced artistic and cultural expression. The scrapbook page, with its array of designs, gives us insight into the aesthetics of the period, which favored Neoclassicism and the Empire style. These styles often reflected the power and authority of the state through symmetry, order, and references to classical antiquity. Percier was a leading designer and architect, and his work helped shape the visual identity of this era. Think about this page as a record of a creative mind at work, full of ideas and possibilities, reflecting not only personal taste but also the broader cultural and political values of the time. It invites us to consider how design can be a form of cultural commentary, reinforcing or challenging existing social structures.