Charles Cournault’s Call for a ‘Persian Museum’ at the Louvre

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University,USA.

Abstract

In 1857, the French artist Charles Cournault published a plea for a French mission to Persepolis. The aim
of the mission was to obtain examples of relief sculpture, like those he had seen in the British Museum, for the
Louvre Museum. Believing that Achaemenid art deserved as much attention as Assyrian, Greek and Roman art,
Cournault urged the government to undertake the mission and felt certain that it would be aided by the efforts of
the Iranian diplomat Farrokh Khan who was, at the time, in France. Franco-Iranian relations having never been
better, Cournault believed the time was right for a concerted effort to obtain diagnostic Persepolitan sculptures for
the purpose of educating the public. If France did not pursue this goal, he felt certain that other powers would do
so. Cournault displayed a reverence for ancient Achaemenid art and sought to promote its qualities to an audience
accustomed to viewing Greek, Roman and, more recently, Assyrian art as the greatest of all early human artistic
traditions.

Keywords

References

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Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies
Volume 14, Issue 2
December 2024
Pages 5-10

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