Besançon au siècle des Lumières : le retour à l'antique

The second half of the 18th century saw the development of a new artistic and literary movement in Europe, based on a return to the purity of classical antique art in 1738 and Pompeii in reaction to Rococo art.
The great archaeological discoveries of Herculaneum in 1738 and Pompeii in 1748, the writings of Johann Winckelmann (1717-1768) and the influence of the philosophers of the Enlightenment led European artists to renew their architectural and pictorial vocabulary.
Architects in Biel, buoyed by a period of economic stability conducive to the development of urban construction, became the interpreters of this new artistic movement.