ABSTRACT
An early witness is the king's librarian Claude Chappuys, who had been in Rome with Jean Du Bellay in 1534, and had assisted with his and Rabelais' excavations. Amongst the young Joachim Du Bellay's friends and models is Maurice Sceve, whom he met in Lyon on his way to Rome, and whose credentials as an antiquarian are apparent in his 1548 entry album. In some cases, the artist has recreated a degree of classical local colour, presenting the Palici on an altar, or Pallas and Apollo in front of temples; antiquity is evoked by portraying rites of sacrifice or marriage, or by use of a backdrop of half-ruined buildings. Like L'Hospital, numerous poets find their inspiration in local antiquities. The vogue for ruins and the antique, which existed in art under Henri II, was also reflected, therefore, in poetry, and archaeological remains and discoveries on French soil were fanning the flames of nationalism and local civic pride.
