Isaac Moillon

Isaac Moillon (* 1614 in Paris ; † 1673 there ) was a painter . His work went largely unnoticed until the 1980s, but then it was discovered and appreciated through art history . Often the uniqueness of his way of representation for a painter of the 17th century is emphasized, e.g. In some cases, however, the banality of some images has to be admitted.

Life

Isaac was the son of the painter and painting dealer Nicolas Moillon. His older sister, Louise Moillon , was also a painter. Like his sister, Isaac is best known for still lifes, although his interests were broader than that of his sister. He lived in Paris in what was then Rue de Bourbon (now Rue de Lille), where he also died. Overall, very little is known about his life. It seems certain that he was a Protestant and single. The beginning of his artistic career is believed to be in the years between 1634 and 1637. During this time he is said to have made murals in a Paris hotel. He gained a certain fame through his paintings for the Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune in 1646 . From 1655 he was a member of the royal academy. In 1673 he died for reasons unknown until now at the age of 59.

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As far as we know, his work comprises around 40 pictures.

Wall paintings in the Hôtel Bautru in Paris

Between 1634 and 1637, Louis Le Vau had the Hôtel Bautru built in Paris on the corner of Rue Vivienne and Rue des Petits Champs. Isaac Moillon was hired to design the entrance hall and the gallery. As Henri Sauval reports in his book Histoire et recherches des antiquités de la ville de Paris , which was published in 1724 but was already written in the mid-17th century, Isaac Moillon chose a war motif. The hotel and the pictures were destroyed in 1823, so that nothing is left of this first work by the young artist.

Fig. 1 - Painting from the miracle cycle

Fig. 2 - Painting from the miracle cycle

Fig. 3 - Painting from the miracle cycle

Fig. 4 - Altarpiece

Pictures in the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune

In 1645 Hugues Bètault had another room built in the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune to provide more space for nursing . Shortly after its completion, he had this hall decorated splendidly before it was given its actual purpose. Isaac Moillon received the order.

He painted 9 large pictures with oil on wall, in which he depicted the miraculous healings of Christ . (Fig. 1–3) Each of these paintings was 400 × 275 cm. The monumental character recognizable here in the representation should become typical of Isaac Moillon's work. However, all 9 scenes are particularly noticeable for their simplicity. Their motives and the intention to make a statement should be quickly clear, since the aim was not to puzzle the patients here, but to give them hope through the pictures.

The altarpiece (fig. 4) shows Saint Hugo bringing a drowned child back to life. Both drowning and resurrection are shown in one picture, which was a typical illustration for the 17th century. Two angels, painted on wood, frame the image. The dimensions of the picture are 176 × 237 cm. This picture was part of the Grand Siécle exhibition in 1993 and is the first picture to be shown in a public exhibition.

Isaac Moillon also painted the ceiling of the Saint Hugues room . It represents the miracle of the swimming pool in Bethzaida from the Gospel of John. The picture was originally painted on a 1450 × 1000 cm large cloth, which was then stretched to the ceiling. From an artistic point of view, this picture is particularly noticeable because the viewer is looking from below, so to speak, in the water of the swimming pool. A restoration in 1819 did little to do the painting any good, so a new restoration was carried out in 1943. The painting was divided into 40 pieces and each part was stretched on boards, which were then reattached to the ceiling.

In other halls of the Hôtel-Dieu are the 200 × 190 cm painting La Pentecôte , the 110 × 160 cm painting La Résurrection and the somewhat smaller (60 × 51 cm) painting La Madeleine au pied de la croix . The latter is unsigned and was therefore only assigned to Moillon in the 1990s. It is not known when these three paintings were created.

In Hall Saint Louis another painting of the artist depends: La mort de saint Louis . It is 180 × 255 cm and was not made until 1655, so Isaac Moillon returned to his former place of work at a later date.

Other works

The numerous work in the Hôtel-Dieu may have contributed to Isaac Moillon becoming better known in Burgundy and being able to carry out further assignments here. A few more of his works should be noted here:

• The oil painting Le Christ mort can still be found in Auxey-Duresses in the Saint-Martin church . It has a size of 93 × 130 cm and was signed by Isaac Moillon. The date of creation is not yet known.
• In Beaune, in the Notre-Dame church, there is a painting entitled Saint Yves . It's 239 × 189 cm and signed by Moillon. The year of origin is not yet known.
• In Villeneuve-Lembron Castle there is a painting entitled L'empoisonnement de Camma et Synorix au temple de Diane . It is 123 × 196 cm and was made in 1655.
• In the cathedral of Moulins there is a 218 × 162 cm picture with the title L'Annonciation from 1654, which consists of 2 panels. One tablet represents the Archangel Michael , the other the Virgin Mary .

literature

• Jeannine Baticle, Jacques Wilhelm: Les peintures d'Isaac Moillon dans les châteaux d'Auvergne et du Bourbonnais. in: Bull. Soc. Hist. Art francais, 1982, pp. 93-100.
• Renaud Benoit-Cattin: Deux nouvelles œuvres d'Isaac Moillon a Beaune. in: Revue de l'Art, 1995 - 3, No. 109, pp. 75-76.
• Renaud Benoit-Cattin: Quelques nouveaux tableaux d'Isaac Moillon. in: Histoire de l'Art, No. 44, 1999, pp. 141-145.
• Grand Siècle. Catalog d'exposition, Montréal, musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes, musée des Beaux-Arts, Montpellier, musée Fabre, 1993, p. 190.
• Sylvain Laveissière: Le Christ au linceul d'Isaac Moillon à l'église d'Auxey-Duresses. in: Bull. Soc. Hist. Art francais, 1973, pp. 133-134.
• Sylvain Laveissière: Nouvelles œuvres d'Isaac Moillon (1614–1673). Curiosity, Études d'histoire de l'art en l'honneur d'Antoine Scnapper. Paris 1998.
• Jacques Wilhelm: Un peintre oublié: Isaac Moillon de l'Académie royale. Ses œuvres à l'hôtel-Dieu de Beaune. in: Bull. Soc. Hist. Art francais, 1973, pp. 113-132.