Drawing the musaeum. The graphic origins of a typology

Abstract

The first museums of history were installed in ancient palaces in the xvii and xviii centuries. However, the inadequacy of these spaces made it necessary the creation of an independent architecture. In the process to create a new typology the academic impulse was fundamental. Beyond individual efforts like those of Sturm and Algarotti, it would be at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris where the main idea found its inspiration in the monumental image of the Musaeum of Alexandria. Through constant competitions and institutional exams, over four decades, the museum defined its role and internal organization, represented in highly detailed plans. It was precisely one of his former students, Durand, who took the academic efforts forward, with a rational prototype, contained in his Précis, which unwittingly, provided the basis for the public museums of the nineteenth century.