The Académie originated in 1663 as a small council of
humanists, "scholars who were the most versed in the knowledge of history and antiquity":
Jean Chapelain,
François Charpentier,
Jacques Cassagne,
Amable de Bourzeys, and
Charles Perrault. In another source, Perrault is not mentioned, and other original members are named as François Charpentier and a M. Douvrier. The organizer was King
Louis XIV's finance minister
Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Its first name was the
Académie royale des Inscriptions et Médailles, and its mission was to compose or obtain
Latin inscriptions to be written on public monuments and medals issued to celebrate the events of Louis' reign. However, under Colbert's management, the Académie performed many additional roles, such as determining the art that would decorate the
Palace of Versailles. In 1683
Minister Louvois increased the membership to eight. In January 1716 it was permanently renamed to the
Académie royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres with the broader goal of elevating the prestige of the French monarchy using physical symbols uncovered or recovered through the methods of classical erudition. The Académie produced a catalogue of medals created in honor of Louis XIV,
Médailles sur les événements du règne de Louis le Grand, avec des explications historiques, first published in 1702. A second edition was published in 1723, eight years after Louis' death. Each page of the catalogue featured engraved images of the obverse and reverse of a single medal, followed by a lengthy description of the event upon which it was based. The second edition added some medals for events prior to 1700 which were not included in the first volume, and in some cases the images of medals in the earlier edition were altered, resulting in an improved version. The catalogues may therefore be seen as an artistic effort to enhance the king's image, rather than as an accurate historical record. ==Role==