The Tortoise and the Hare: Extempore Performance and Sculptural Practice in Eighteenth-century France.

This contribution tracks some of the theoretical parameters that regulated the estimation of physicality in sculptural practice in eighteenth-century France. It follows the decline of public demonstrations of improvised skill and their gradual replacement by private sketching. Although this transition illustrates the positive evaluation granted technical knowledge in the eighteenth century, it also reveals the survival of a hierarchical understanding of sculptural activity, articulated in particular in the notion of genius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]