Jean-Baptiste Dubos

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The "Abbé" Dubos

Jean-Baptiste Dubos (* December 1670 in Beauvais ; † March 23, 1742 in Paris ; also: Du Bos ) was a French theologian, esthete and historian of the Enlightenment .

Dubos studied theology and law and was employed in the civil service for a while before devoting himself entirely to writing. In 1720 he was accepted into the Académie française , of which he was secretary for many years. In his historical works he put forward controversial theses that were disputed by Montesquieu , for example . As an Abbé , he was also a minor clergyman.

In the German-speaking area, Dubos was best known for his aesthetic writing Réflexions critiques sur la poésie et sur la peinture ( Critical observations on poetry and painting, 1719 ). In it, he turned against strictly rule-based art production , as prevailed until the 18th century , and instead put the effect of the work of art and the taste of the audience in the foreground. He affirmed that the tasks of poetry and painting are "de toucher et de plaire" ("to touch and please"). Art should not only be beautiful, it should move hearts. Dubos thus became a founder of the so-called sensitivity , an epoch of awakening and criticism of rationalism after the death of the Sun King .

Dubos' writing influenced the development of theater and music in the 18th century. Jean-Jacques Rousseau radicalized his views a generation later.

Réflexions critiques sur la poésie et sur la peinture. published 1719

Works

  • Histoire des quatre Gordiens, prouvée et illustrée par les médailles (1695)
  • Les Interests de l'Angleterre mal-entendus dans la guerre présente (1703)
  • Histoire de la ligue faite à Cambray entre Jules II, Maximilien Ier, Louis XII, Ferdinand V, et tous les princes d'Italie, contre la république de Venise (1709)
  • Réflexions critiques sur la poésie et la peinture (1719)
  • Histoire critique de l'établissement de la monarchie française dans les Gaules (1734)

Web links

Wikisource: Jean-Baptiste Dubos  - Sources and full texts (French)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jean-Baptiste Dubos. Critical reflections on poetry and Mahlerey. From the French of Abbot Du Bos . Mummische Buchh., Copenhagen, 1760.