DILETTANTI SOCIETY, a body of noblemen and gentlemen by whose exertions the study of antique art in England has been largely promoted. The society was founded in 1734, and held its meetings at the Thatched House tavern in St. James' street. It was in its beginnings simply an amateur club, its object being to combine social and friendly intercourse with the cultivation of artistic knowledge and the gratification of artistic tastes. But its funds having accumulated to a large amount, its members resolved, in 1764, to fit out an expedition for the purpose of collecting details and draw ings of the most remarkable artistic monuments of antiquity. The persons selected for carrying out this important undertaking were Mr. Chandler, of Magdalen college, Oxford, the editor of the 1farmora aroniensis ; Mr. Revett and Mr. Stewart, the authors of the magnificent work on Athenian antiquities; and Mr. Pars, a talented young artist Having spent two years in Greece, they returned in 1766, bringing with them the matt/ rials for the two splendid volumes on the antiquities of Ionia, which were published at the expense of the society. Architecture had been the first object of their inquiries, but
their attention was now turned to sculpture, which was then at the lowest ebb in Eng land. A series of the finest antique statues, bas-reliefs, and busts were selected and engraved with the greatest care. This work appeared in 1809, with dissertations by Payne Knight. In 1811, a second architectural exploring-party was dispatched by the society to Asia Minor, consisting of Mr. (afterwards sir William) Gell, Mr. Bedford, and Mr. Gandy. Twe volumes were issued, one in 1817 entitled the Unedited Antiquities of Attica, and a second on Antique Sculpture in 1835. For these spirited exertions in their behalf, the public have been indebted to a club of some sixty private gentlemen.