This print is an allegory of the Academie Royale called here 'of Fine Arts and Science' founded in 1648 in Paris in emulation of the academies of Florence and Rome. The scope was to promote the artistic patronage of King Louis XIV as well as train artists who would then disseminate French art and lead the artistic taste throughout Europe. The academic teaching was based on the classical ideas described by the Ancients: there was a liberal curriculum of courses in geometry, anatomy, perspective, history, geography and literature which complemented an intense artistic practice which began with the copy of casts of Classical and Renaissance major works and gradually progressed to the life class. In the 17th century, the painter Charles Le Brun was one of the founder members of the Académie and its director for many years. Sébastien Le Clerc (1637-1714) was a printmaker, draughtsman and military engineer who found in Le Brun a master and a protector. Le Clerc entered the Académie in 1672 and was later appointed professor of geometry and perspective. The present print was made after his original design now in the British Museum (1886,0111.18) probably by Charles-Nicolas Cochin (1688-1754).