Letter from Ingres to Jean-Germain-Désiré Amengaud, 19 February 1850

Charles Blanc's monumental Histoire des peintres, a comprehensive and illustrated review of the history of European painting from the Renaissance onward, was first published in 1861, though chapters on individual artists were printed as installments and were available by subscription as early as August 1849. In this indignant letter to the editor of the series, Jean-Germain-Désiré Armengaud (1797–1869), Ingres explains why he had cancelled his subscription. The artist refused to endorse a publication that propagated "trends [in painting] that are entirely opposed to mine and that I believe to be dangerous.".