Toussaint-Bernard Émeric-David (20 August 17552 April 1839) was a French

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and writer on art.

Life

Éméric-David was born in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

. He gained a law degree at the university at Aix-en-Provence in 1775. Destined for the legal profession, and having gone in 1775 to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to complete his legal education, he acquired there a taste for art which influenced his whole future career. He went to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, where he continued his art studies. He soon returned, however, to his native village, and followed for some time the profession of an advocate; but in 1787 he succeeded his uncle Antoine David as printer to the

parlement A ''parlement'' (), under the French Ancien Régime, was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern Fre ...

. He was elected mayor of Aix in 1791, but as the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

worsened for public officials, he moved to Paris and then briefly into hiding during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

. For some time to adopt a vagrant life. When danger was past he returned to Aix, sold his printing business, and engaged in general commercial pursuits; but he was not long in renouncing these also in order to devote himself exclusively to literature and art. Paris became his new home and he resolved to be an art historian. From 1809 to 1814, under the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, he represented his ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' in the Lower House (''Corps législatif''); in 1814 he voted for the downfall of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

; in 1815 he retired into private life, and in 1816 he was elected a member of the Institute (

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions ( epig ...

). He died in Paris on 2 April 1839.

Works

Éméric-David was placed in 1825 on the commission appointed to continue ''L'Histoire littraire de la France''. His principal works are ''Recherches sur l'art statuaire, considéré chez les anciens et les modernes'' (Paris, 1805), a work which obtained the prize of the Institute; ''Choix de pièces: notices sur divers tableaux du Musée Napoléon'' (Paris, 1812); ''Suite d'études calquées et dessinées d'après cinq tableaux de Raphaël'' (Paris, 1818–1821), in 6 vols.; ''Jupiter: Recherches sur ce dieu, sur son culte, et sur les monuments qui le représentent'' (Paris, 1833), 2 vols., illustrated; and ''Vulcain'' (Paris, 1837).

Legacy

A street in the centre of

named in his honor.Google Maps
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References

Attribution: *

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emeric-David, Toussaint-Bernard 1755 births 1839 deaths Mayors of Aix-en-Provence Aix-Marseille University alumni 19th-century French archaeologists 19th-century French historians Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French male non-fiction writers