Source: Tim de Noble, 785-532-5950, tdenoble@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Diane Potts, 785-532-1090, potts@k-state.edu

Friday, Nov. 19, 2010

ARCHITECTURE EXHIBIT FEATURES LETAROUILLY'S 'EDIFICES DE ROME MODERNE'

MANHATTAN -- The buildings of renaissance and baroque Rome are getting a closer look.

"A Comparative Analysis of Letarouilly's 'Edifices de Rome Moderne' -- Then and Now" will be shown in the Chang Gallery of Seaton Hall at Kansas State University from Nov. 29 to Jan. 21, 2011. The exhibit is sponsored by the College of Architecture, Planning and Design.

The exhibit features the reproductions of engravings and original photographs documenting buildings of renaissance and baroque Rome as depicted by Paul Marie Letarouilly in his three-volume "Edifices de Rome Moderne." The exhibit locates and documents the existing structures and the present state of the buildings depicted in Letarouilly's 354 plates, illustrating both historic changes and original misrepresentations.

The main body of research for the exhibit was done from 2003-2006 by Kevin J. Hinders and research assistants from the School of Architecture at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Letarouilly's "Edifices de Rome Moderne" is considered one of the most widely consulted plate books of the 19th century, serving generations of architects at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and in American architectural offices. The compendium of plans and facades is both of historical interest to and practical application of the building needs of the expanding metropolises of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Letarouilly published Volume I in 1840 and Volume 2 in 1850; Volume 3 was published in 1857, two years after his death. A companion publication, "Table of Materials," was published to go with the set in 1857. The engravings were so popular that Volume 1 was substantially upgraded and reprinted in 1851. The enhanced renderings in the 1851 version became the basis for all subsequent versions of the publication.

The Chang Gallery is free and open to the public weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed between Christmas and New Year's Day, as well as on weekday holidays. Funding for this exhibit is provided by the K-State student fine arts fee.