Ravenna : la basilica di San Vitale

The study by Dartein is placed after a long tradition of, especially, French studies and surveys of the basilica of St. Vitale in Ravenna, arisen at the last years of the XVIIIth Century. This historic tradition, starting with the History of Art of Séroux d’Agincourt, who consider the architecture of the VIth Century church as art of the decadence, was researching and studying the origin of the Romanic and Gothic architecture in France after the Restoration. The drawings in the sketchbooks of Dartein reveals a very detailed attention to the church during its first restoration. Even if it is impossible to find all the surveyed elements in the printed table on St. Vitale published in The Architecture, the attention kept by Dartein to the details of the church and the style of the representation show a innovative analytical approach. However, the Study was unable to offer a new interpretation of St. Vitale than that proposed by the master Reynaud.