Dominique-Vivant Denon

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dominique-Vivant Denon 1808, painted by Robert Lefèvre

Dominique-Vivant Baron Denon (born January 4, 1747 in Chalon-sur-Saône , † April 27, 1825 in Paris ) was a French art politician and "museum man" with a wide range of activities as a medalist , engraver , archaeologist , painter , writer , diplomat and Art collector .

Life

Childhood and youth

The Chevalier Dominique-Vivant de Non was born on January 4, 1747 near Chalon-sur-Saône as the son of a lawyer from the lowest nobility. A law degree in Paris from 1765 was only half-heartedly pursued by the young man devoted to the fine arts. After soon dropping out of his studies, de Non was trained in painting by Noël Hallé and began to erase .

In Versailles

De Non succeeded in Versailles , the King Louis XV. to speak to on one of his promenades and to be interested in his person. He received in 1769 a job as curator of the Madame de Pompadour furnished Gemmenkabinettes . In the same year he was appointed chamberlain to the king. A simultaneous attempt as a playwright failed. The play Julie ou le bon père , which had already appeared in print and premiered on July 14, 1769, was thoroughly panned by Diderot and critics.

In the diplomatic service

Under Louis XVI. De Non entered the diplomatic service in 1771 and became the embassy secretary with intelligence assignments in Saint Petersburg . After a failed and sensational escape aid for a French actress who had been discovered as an agent, he was given leave and was then transferred to Switzerland via Stockholm . De Non used the mission of 1775 to visit Voltaire in Ferney in July . De Non managed to draw a passable portrait of Voltaire, which also appeared in print. De Non's satirical copperplate engraving, Le Déjeuner de Ferney , which caricatured the aged writer in bed surrounded by his court, became a major annoyance for Voltaire . The paper enjoyed several editions across Europe. In 1777 he wrote his novella Point de Lendemain , which was first published in an anthology, the Mélanges littéraires ou Journal des Dames des Claude-Joseph Dorat under the initials MDGODR (Monsieur de Non Gentilhomme ordinaire du Roi). He also drew and erased.

At the end of 1777 he had the opportunity to travel to Sicily with the architect Renard and the draftsmen Châtelet and Desprez in preparation for the Voyage pittoresque des Abbés de Saint-Non, which was completed in 1786 . First from 1778 personal advisor to the French envoy Clermont d'Amboise, de Non was appointed secretary in 1779 and in 1782 Chargé d'Affaires at the French embassy of the Kingdom of Naples . In Naples, the secretary of the embassy, ​​who had little work to do, had the time and leisure to build up a close network of contacts. De Non became friends with the Abbé Galiani , William Hamilton and Emma Hamilton as well as artists such as the actor Casciello and the painter Giuseppe Bonito. It was here that Denon first became known as a passionate collector and archaeologist: he brought over 500 antique vases from southern Italy to Paris, which he later sold to the Sèvres porcelain factory. After Clermont d'Amboises was recalled in 1783, Denon also lost his career. His reports to Paris about the intrigues and entanglements at Marie-Caroline's court , who pursued a policy that was friendly to England and directed against France, were displeasing and, after Marie-Caroline's intervention with her sister Marie-Antoinette , caused him to be recalled.

In a roundabout way, de Non returned to Paris in 1785 and received a pension after he had requested to leave the diplomatic service. He received a bonus of ten thousand and a pension of two thousand livres. At 38, Denon was a financially secure man. On March 21, 1787 de Non was appointed a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts and devoted himself to his artistic interests. During this time he made friends with the painter Jacques-Louis David . Together they are working on a copperplate version of David's unfinished painting "The Oath in the Ballroom" (Le serment du jeu de paume).

In the revolutionary years

  • Isabella-Teotochi-Marin, de Non after Vigée-Lebrun

  • Vigée-Lebrun, de Non to Vigée-Lebrun

  • Senator Angelo Querini , de Non

  • Revolutionary garment design, Denon after Louis David

During a study visit to Venice from the beginning of October 1789, de Non was surprised by the outbreak of the French Revolution . De Non frequented Venice mainly in the salon of his lover Isabella Albrizzi-Teotochi . The salon was a meeting point for Northern European artists on a trip to Italy, which also visited Johann Wolfgang Goethe , Johann Heinrich Ramberg and Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun in the early 1790s . Ramberg and Vigée-Lebrun portrayed de Non and were in turn portrayed by de Non. On August 12, 1790, de Non was interrogated for the first time by the Inquisitors of the Serenissima on suspicion of Jacobinism . On July 14, 1793, de Non was expelled from Venice because of his pro-revolutionary attitude and traveled on to Bologna and Florence . In December 1793, de Non learned that he had been placed on the list of emigrants in France. To save his goods, de Non traveled via Baden to Paris and veiled his title of nobility by contracting the title and name to Denon . The painter Louis David, who was now close to the revolution, personally vouched for Denon's republican sentiments and commissioned him to edit his designs for uniforms for republican officials. The designs were engraved and published by Denon in 1793. The sociable and engaging Denon made the acquaintance of Robespierre and frequented his house, but without compromising himself. Denon's relationship with Robespierre remains unclear. A drawing of Denon by the head of Robespierre in the hand of the executioner indicates his participation in the execution of Robespierre on July 28, 1794.

In 1797 Denon's friend Joséphine de Beauharnais introduced him to General Bonaparte . He was appointed by him in Paris in 1798 because of his education and artistic skills as a draftsman (déssinateur) in the group of scientific companions (savants) of the Napoleonic expeditionary force to Egypt .

In Egypt

  • The Sphinx in front of the Great Pyramid, according to Denon

  • General Desaix holds court in Upper Egypt, according to a drawing by Denon

  • The Egyptian service, based on a design by Denon for the imperial manufactory in Sèvres

In the wake of the troops of the French general Desaix de Veygoux , who followed the Mamluk Murad Bey Muhammad as far as Upper Egypt , Denon made numerous sketches and drawings of Egyptian buildings, returned to Cairo in 1799 and reported to Napoleon . Two commissions were commissioned by this to record the Egyptian monuments and culture.

His book Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Egypte was published in 1802 and was a resounding success. This book was the initial spark for the enthusiasm for the culture of the pharaohs in Europe and is therefore the midwife of Egyptology . Several editions at short intervals and translations into English and German (1803 by Dietrich Tiedemann) followed. From 1809 to 1822, the Description de l'Egypte was published as the result of the scientific work of the Napoleon Commission in nine text and eleven large-format illustrated books.

Back in France

Bronze medal 1803, obverse, Napoleon with short, wavy hair. Photo: Manfred Czastka
Bronze medal 1803, reverse, statue of Venus Medici from the Uffizi. Photo: Manfred Czastka

The director of the Musée Napoléon

Dominique-Vivant Denon was appointed Directeur général du Musée central des Arts (1804 Musée Napoléon), today's Louvre , by Napoléon in 1802 . It should be "the largest, richest and most magnificent museum in the world". The concept of free access for all citizens to the works of art, which was previously reserved only for the ruling and educated classes, appeared completely new and fascinated European intellectuals. Only Christian von Mechel's hanging in the Belvedere can be listed for comparison. The classification scheme was based on two basic elements: a subdivision according to national schools and a ranking according to historical contexts, as requested by Johann Joachim Winckelmann . This European vision convinced and overwhelmed contemporaries, even if sacrifices were wrested from them like the Berlin museum director Georg Friedrich Waagen. That is why the accusation of looted art was only occasionally raised: Denon himself and other artists and historians did not consider it useful to the Directory "for France [...] if the masterpieces of painting and sculpture are carried away from Rome [...]". Denon put conservational issues above political issues. When the salon carré of the Louvre was to be redesigned for Napoleon's wedding to Marie-Louise , Denon stood protectively in front of the pictures on display. In 1804 he was appointed general director of all French museums.

further activities

Denon headed the galleries of the government palace, he managed the porcelain factory of Sèvres and the tapestry production. As the director of Napoleon's cultural policy, he was the artistic director and outfitter of important state acts and celebrations. He was commissioned by Napoleon to plan and execute the imperial monuments in Paris.

As director of the state mint for medals, he made the Histoire Métallique, begun by Napoleon in 1796 , his personal project of glorifying Napoleon from 1803 . Because, in his opinion, medals were "the only witnesses of fame that endured all centuries". The first medal after his inauguration was dedicated to the arrival of the stolen Medici Venus on July 14, 1803 at the Louvre. On the front, under Napoleon's portrait, Denon also had his name stamped with the name of the medalist Jeuffroy - a novelty in the history of the medal. "It is characteristic of Denon that not only is a beautiful naked woman depicted on his first medal, but also the motto AUX ARTS LA VICTOIRE (" The arts of victory "). For the large-scale art theft under Napoleon, however, the motto was reversed: Den Art wins. " (Lisa Zeitz)

From 1808, Denon organized and directed the traditionally biennial Salon de Paris exhibition , which was supposed to promote painting in France.

On August 5, 1812 he was awarded the title of baron and called himself Baron Denon from that point on . Since Denon was unmarried, he received permission to bequeath the title to his nephew Dominique-Vivant Brunet. It is variously described that Denon should have been anything but a misogynist. His universal knowledge, his willingness to communicate, his charming, well-educated demeanor brought him recognition and sympathy - despite his not exactly dazzling appearance. The painter Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun met him in Venice and reported: "[...] his wit and his knowledge of artistic things made him a magical Cicerone, [...] even as a very young man, Monsieur Denon was not beautiful, but that did not prevent him from pleasing a large number of beautiful women. "

End of life

  • Self-portrait of Baron Denon 1823

  • Memorial plaque on the last residence of Baron Denon

  • Dominique Vivant Denon's grave monument

  • Signature of the grave sculpture

Baron Denon privatized the last years of his life. He devoted himself to his collections in his Parisian palace on Quai Voltaire 7 and experimented with lithographic prints. Denon died on April 27, 1825 after a brief illness - he had caught a cold two days earlier at an art auction. He was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery and received a life-size bronze grave sculpture created in 1826 by P. Carellier.

Denon's role as Napoleon's eye

  • The knuckle player, requisitioned in Berlin in November 1806 and restituted to the Prussian commissioners on August 7, 1815

  • Giottos , Francis of Assisi receives the stigmata, requisitioned in Pisa on the Camposanto in 1813 , left in the Louvre by the Italian commissioners

  • van der Weydens St. Katharina, requisitioned in the Belvedere in Vienna on June 18, 1809 , restituted to Austria in September 1815

  • Schadow's Quadriga, requisitioned at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in 1806 and returned to Berlin by Blücher in 1814

Denon worked during Napoleon's campaigns in the areas of Europe occupied by Napoleonic troops as a representative and expert in the confiscation of art objects: from May 1805 to January 1806 in northern Italy, October 1806 to September 1807 in Germany (where the nickname "Napoleon's eye "was created), November 1808 to January 1809 Spain, May to November 1809 Munich and Vienna, from August to December 1810 back in Italy. His team in Germany also included Henri Beyle , who mainly requisitioned incunabula and manuscripts in the Wolfenbüttel library , and the Strasbourg painter Benjamin Zix as secretary, interpreter and chronicler.

In October 1807 the works of art seized in Germany were exhibited in the "Salon en rotonde" on the first floor of the Louvre. According to a list that is difficult to verify today, it was z. For example, around 300 paintings from the Kassel Residence, around 200 works of art each from Salzdahlum Palace near Braunschweig and Schwerin, almost 400 from Vienna, 55 paintings from Sanssouci , plus statues, antique busts and personal pieces from the estate of Frederick the Great . This includes only vaguely descriptive library holdings and sacred works of art from the monasteries, churches and electoral residences of the Rhineland, which has been occupied since 1794 and which has been part of France since 1797. The best-known example from Cologne was the "Crucifixion of St. Peter" by Peter Paul Rubens .

When critically examining Denon's function, it should be taken into account that around 1800 there were no international legal agreements on cultural goods according to today's understanding. France saw itself as the refuge of revolutionary achievements in Europe and Paris consequently as the administrator of the cultural assets. As early as 1794, beginning in the conquered Habsburg Netherlands, wagonloads of paintings, sculptures and libraries from churches and monasteries that had been confiscated by revolutionary troops had been piled up in what is now the Louvre.

Denon was one of the first to recognize the quality and richness of the painting of the Middle Ages , which until then had been little appreciated , especially the so-called "primitive" painting of Italy, as the early Renaissance works of Giotto or Cimabue were called. Denon's understanding of art also included non-European works of art for the first time, including the peoples of Polynesia . Denon proceeded with the utmost courtesy and understanding. He also acquired important pieces and discovered Watteau's painting "Gilles" at a second-hand dealer. Due to the intervention of the Pope and Antonio Canova's request , some of the stolen items were returned after the war. The Pope's interest was exclusively in ancient works. The return transport was carried out through the influence of George IV and with funds from the United Kingdom of Great Britain . In October 1815, the Baron Denon submitted to Louis XVIII in protest against the seizure of numerous works of art by the British . his resignation. He had viewed his collection as a supranational, European institution under the auspices of freedom and the advancement of the arts. This view was followed not least by numerous Germans, including Friedrich Schlegel .

Denon and Goethe

Goethe and Denon had already become known in Venice in 1790. The occupation and sacking of Weimar by French troops after the battle of Jena and Auerstedt in early October 1806 terrified Goethe. He was relieved of these worries on October 18, 1808 by billeting his old friend Denon. Goethe wrote that Denon had turned the unhappy days into feast days. On October 19, Goethe introduced Denon to Grand Duchess Luise after his marriage to Christiane Vulpius . Denon reciprocated for the loving reception by giving Goethe access to the French headquarters, which was not without significance for the continued existence of the Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach. For this purpose, the restless Denon designed two medals with the heads of Goethe and Wieland. On October 23, 1806, Goethe wrote to Karl Ludwig von Knebel : "Have I already written that I had a visit from my old friend Denon, who stayed with us for a few days? A thunderstorm must pass before a rainbow appears should! He was extremely lively and well-behaved. "

The art collection of Baron Denon

The decommissioned art collection of Baron Denon was auctioned in Paris in 1826 and 1827. It included sculptures, paintings, antiques, medals, graphics and handicrafts. There were individual focal points within the collections. The Rembrandt etchings were of outstanding quality . The collector's stamp of Baron Denon shows a corkscrew-like device between the letters D and M. A piece of outstanding eccentricity is the reliquary of Baron Denon , which is now kept in the Musées de Châteauroux: Baron Denon had a late Gothic, French reliquary of the 15th century refurbished with relics of his personal heroes of history. The Reliquaire de Vivant Denon contains bone fragments from el Cid , from Abélard and Heloisa , Molière , a tooth of Voltaire , locks of hair from General Desaix and Napoleon, as well as parts of other personalities from European history.

Others

The novella Just one night (original title: Point de lendemain ) was filmed in 1958 by the French Nouvelle Vague director Louis Malle under the title Les Amants , but without reference to the original Denons. Milan Kundera also processed the novella in his 1995 novel Die Langsamkeit .

The south wing and former main entrance to the Louvre is named "Pavillon Denon". In 2016, the Dominique-Vivant Denon research center was also opened in the Louvre.

In 1805 he was made an honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences .

In Chalon-sur-Saône, his hometown, the Musée Dominique Vivant Denon was set up in Denon's honor, which has a representative collection of drawings and graphics by the hand of Baron Denon.

Works

Fonts

Graphics

Denon has been involved with graphics since his student days in Paris. He was accepted into the Académie royale de peinture et du sculpture in July 1787 as a copperplate engraver. His complete oeuvre comprises around 1000 works by his own hand in various techniques based on his own or third-party designs. From 1809 Denon, who had learned the newly developed technique of lithography from Alois Senefelder in Munich , made almost exclusively lithographs, which in recent years have mostly depicted people in his personal circle. Denon experimented with multi-colored prints from different plates. The importance of Denon for the development of lithographic art in France is still controversial today.

During a stay in Venice , Denon made an engraving with the portrait of Johann Heinrich Ramberg , while the latter, conversely, painted a portrait of Denon there.

literature

  • Jean Chatelain: Dominique-Vivant Denon et le Louvre de Napoléon , Paris 1973.
  • Petra ten-Doesschate Chu, Walter L Strauss: Dominique Vivant Denon: french masters of the nineteenth century , Abaris books, New York, 1985, Incomplete but extensive catalog of Denon's graphic work in the series The illustrated Bartsch , Volume 121, ISBN 0 -89835-220-7 (part 1), ISBN 0-89835-315-7 (part 2).
  • Barbara S. Lesko: Denon, Dominique Vivant, Baron de. In: Kathryn A. Bard (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18589-0 , pp. 254-55.
  • Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachet (ed.), Editions de la Réunion des Musées nationaux: Dominique-Vivant Denon, l´oeil de Napoléon, Exposition 1999. Exhibition catalog Museum Louvre, Paris, ISBN 2-7118-3958-3
  • Thankmar von Münchhausen: The Long Fingers of the Conqueror , Review of the Louvre Exhibition Catalog 1999, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung No. 279, Nov. 30, 1999, p. 51.
  • Philippe Sollers : The Cavalier in the Louvre. Vivant Denon. Heidelberg 2000.
  • Lisa Zeitz and Joachim Zeitz: Napoleon's medals , Petersberg 2003, ISBN 3-935590-25-3 .
  • Bénédicte Savoy : Art theft: Napoleon's confiscations in Germany and the European consequences; with a catalog of works of art from German collections in the Musée Napoléon, Böhlau Verlag Vienna, 2011, ISBN 978-3-205-78427-2 .
  • Reinhard Kaiser : The happy art thief - The life of Vivant Denon . CH Beck, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-68878-2 .

Web links

Commons : Dominique-Vivant Denon  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Vivant Denon (in French)  - sources and full texts

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Dominique-Vivant Denon in Institut national d'histoire de l'art .
  2. ^ L. Forrer: Biographical Dictionary of Medallists . Denon, Dominique Vivant. tape I . Spink & Son Ltd, London 1904, p. 555 f .
  3. ^ T. v. Münchhausen: The long fingers ... FAZ No. 279, p. 51.
  4. ↑ a b R. Kaiser: Kunsträuber ... http://www.reinhardkaiser.com/LesesaalNeu/VersammelteWerke/DenonBuch.htm
  5. ^ Dominique-Vivant Denon, L'oeil de Napoléon, exhibition catalog, Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1999, pp. 6–7.
  6. ^ R. Kaiser: Kunsträuber ... p. 8.
  7. ^ A. Hugo: France militaire ... Vol. 2, p. 236.
  8. ↑ a b c Gaethgens, Thomas: Hieronymus im Louvre, Dominique Vivant Denon, collector and museum director Napoleon and the vision of a European museum, FAZ, No. 264 of November 12, 1994.
  9. ↑ Reinhard Kaiser quotes Denon's biographer Jean Chatelain in: Kunsträuber ... p. 9.
  10. ↑ King Louis XIV had already had medals minted from a Histoire Métallique to glorify his reign , which Napoleon took as a model: lu J. Zeitz: Napoleons Medalen , p. 18.
  11. ↑ Denon in a letter to Napoleon in November 1810. Quoted by Lisa Zeitz in Napoleon's Medals
  12. ↑ Dr. phil. Lisa Zeitz, b. 1970, co-author of Napoleon's medals , editor-in-chief of Weltkunst since 2012
  13. ↑ Reinhard Kaiser quotes Denon's biographer Jean Chatelain in: Kunsträuber ... p. 8.
  14. ↑ v. Münchhausen: The long fingers ... FAZ No. 279, 1999.
  15. ↑ Lawrence Gowing: Die Gemäldesammlung des Louvre , introduction German edition Verlag Dumont Cologne 1988.
  16. ^ Bénédicte Savoy: Art theft: Napoleon's Confiscations in Germany and the European Consequences; with a catalog of works of art from German collections in the Musée Napoléon , Böhlau Verlag Vienna, 2011.
  17. ↑ Gerhard Müller in: Europe in Weimar: Visions of a Continent , Wallstein Verlag, 2008, p. 263f.
  18. ^ The life of Goethe , Haskell House, 1905–1908, p. 344.
  19. ↑ Heinrich Leporini : The copper engraving collector . Klinkhardt and Biermann, Braunschweig, 1954, p. 148. 158.
  20. ^ Dominique-Vivant Denon, L´oeil de Napoléon , exhibition catalog, Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1999, p. 50 with illustration.
  21. ^ The Dominique-Vivant Denon Research Center | Louvre Museum | Paris. June 28, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2017 .
  22. ↑ Chalon-sur-Saône, Musée Vivant Denon (collections) at musees-bourgogne.org
  23. ↑ in various German translations and with various titles: One single night, transl. Karl Albrecht Rub, Hyperion, Munich 1920 & K. Hönn, Landschlacht TG ; Just one night, transl. Erich August Greeven, Broschek, Hamburg 1961; Only this night, with one far Essay by Anatole France : Baron Denon and a note by the translator Reinhard Kaiser, Schöffling, Frankfurt 1997, ISBN 3-89561-631-1 ; One night, translator & introduction Franz Blei , Bruno Cassirer, Berlin 1911.
  24. ^ Hyacinth Holland:  Ramberg, Johann Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 27, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, pp. 207 f.
personal data
SURNAME Denon, Dominique-Vivant
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Denon, Dominique Vivant Baron (full name); Denon, Dominique Vivant; Denon, Dominique-Vivant; De Non, Dominique Vivant; Non, Dominique Vivant de; DN; Vivant-Denon, Dominique; Denon, Dominique Vivant
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French painter, writer, diplomat and art collector
DATE OF BIRTH January 4, 1747
PLACE OF BIRTH Chalon-sur-Saône
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1825
Place of death Paris