In the prospect of the circulation of concepts and practices and the permeability of artistic boundaries, this research program studies artistic vocabulary as it develops in the XVIIth century and transforms itself in the beginning of the XVIIIth century north of the Alps. Through words, the definition of concepts, the development of glossaries for artists and connoisseurs, and their subsequent insertion into intellectual networks may be grasped. Artistic vocabulary turns out to be a precious site of experimentation for these communities across Europe. Putting into relation artistic practices on one hand, and cultural transfers on the other, this lexicological study opens a new field, linked with the other knowledge domains. From two approaches, diachronic with the analyses of the dissemination of concepts, and synchronic with the study of their context, the purpose of this project is to provide a new research apparatus both reflexive and documentary: a critical dictionary of artistic terminology in French with multilingual entries, a database with the transcription of terms and definitions given by the art theorist themselves, and a volume of theoretical and methodological essays. Our aim is threefold. The first aim is to underline these artistic relations through the circulation of concepts and practices in Europe considered as the space of erudite communication. The second is to show the specificity of some terms and concepts in their own language, and the way they work in connection with the other languages and networks into which they fit, with the purpose of determining the moving boundaries of universality and identity within a culturally diversified geographic space. The third aim is to show that the early modern European artistic community is looking for a common language for the whole Republic of the Arts, which allows for the definition of the numerous artistic experiences which make the diversity of modern Europe.