Greek taste and Roman Spirit: The Society of Dilettanti

This exhibition in the J. Paul Getty Museum presents portraits, sculptures, drawings, and rare books that illuminate the first 100 years of the Society of Dilettanti.The society was founded in 1734 in London as a dining club for British gentlemen who had made the Grand Tour, an extended trip to Italy for cultural enrichment. The Dilettanti combined revelry and witty irreverence with serious study of antiquity. They sponsored archaeological expeditions, assembled celebrated antiquities collections, and elevated classical art and architecture as models of refined taste and style. The society also published books and research scientific. The newsletter will put this English society into historical perspective.