Pierre Devambez

Pierre André Devambez (born November 19, 1902 in Paris ; died January 14, 1980 there ) was a French classical archaeologist , curator at the Louvre and professor at the École pratique des hautes études in Paris.

Career

Pierre Devambez was the son of the painter and illustrator André Devambez . In 1922 he took up studies in Classical Studies at the École normal supérieure in Paris. After the Agrégation in 1926, he became a member of the École française d'Athènes in 1928 , of which he was a member until 1933. He then went to the Institut français d'Archéologie in Istanbul . In 1937 he returned to France and became a curator at the department of Greek and Roman antiquities at the Louvre , and from 1968 he was chief curator of the department - a position he held until 1972.

At the same time, Pierre Devambez was professor of Greek ceramics at the École du Louvre from 1942 to 1970 , one of the grandes écoles of the French educational system. Between 1954 and 1970 he also held archaeological seminars at the École normal supérieure, which he conducted directly on the objects in the Louvre. From 1961 to 1967 he taught Greek religion of the archaic and classical period at the 5th section for “sciences religieuses” at the École pratique des hautes études in Paris.

Researches

During his time at the École française in Athens, Pierre Devambez took over the management of the French excavations on the northern Greek island of Thasos in 1929 , where he initially researched until 1933, only to return in 1953-1954. The results of the older excavations, which he published in several articles, promoted the development of the initially rural main settlement of Thasos into the modern city of Limenas Thasou , which named one of its most important streets after him in his honor.

From 1935 to 1938 Pierre Devambez led the excavations in the Carian sanctuary of Sinuri near the city of Mylasa , which he first visited in 1935 with the epigrapher Louis Robert . In addition, in 1950, together with Pierre Demargne , he opened the French excavations in Xanthos, which he had visited in preparation in 1936. From 1961 to 1963 he took part in the French-Canadian excavation in Laodikeia on the Lycus . He then prepared for Louis Robert the processing of the sculptures found by Klaros .

The preoccupation with Greek sculpture and painting, especially of the archaic and classical period , formed two of his main research areas, on which he also commented in monographs. In addition, he was a profound expert on Greek vase painting with its iconographic and iconological implications - a field of work that he represented in teaching for almost thirty years. When Charles Dugas died in 1958 , the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres appointed Pierre Devambez as its representative in the Union Académique Internationale , which in turn gave him the management of the Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum , which was vacant for the same reason . He headed this large international research company until 1980, established the necessary contacts with previously neglected countries and promoted the publication of the relevant material, for example from Czechoslovakia , the first volume of which dates from 1978.

Memberships and honors

Pierre Devambez was elected to the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres in 1970. He was a bearer of the Phoenix Order and an officer of the Legion of Honor as well as a member of the German Archaeological Institute and the Athens Archaeological Society . Issues 1 and 2 of the 1972 volume of the Revue archéologique were dedicated to him under the title Études de céramique et peinture antiques offerts à Pierre Devambez .

Publications (selection)

• Grands bronzes du Musée de Stamboul (= Mémoires de l'Institut Francais d'Archéologie de Stamboul. Volume 4). Boccard, Paris 1937 ( digitized version ).
• La sculpture grecque. Editions d'art et d'histoire, Paris 1938.
• Le style grec. Larousse, Paris 1944.
• L'art au siècle de Périclès. La Guilde du Livre, Lausanne 1955.
• with Emilie Haspels : Le sanctuaire de Sinuri près de Mylasa. Second Partie, Architecture et céramique (= Mémoires de l'Institut Francais d'Archéologie de Stamboul. Volume 7). Boccard, Paris 1959.
• Sculptures grecques. Sun, Paris 1960.
• Bas-relief de Téos (= Bibliothèque archéologique et historique de l'Institut français d'archéologie d'Istanbul. Volume 14). Maisonneuve in commission, Paris 1962.
• La peinture grecque. Pont-Royal, Paris 1962.
• with Robert Flacelière , Pierre-Maxime Schuhl , Roland Martin : Dictionnaire de la Civilization grecque. Hazan, Paris 1966.
• with Robert Flacelière: Héraclès. Images et récits. Boccard, Paris 1966.

literature

• Pierre Demargne : Allocution à l'occasion de la mort de M. Pierre Devambez, membre de l'Académie. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 1980, pp. 53-56 ( digitized version ).
• Ève Gran-Aymerich : Les Chercheurs de passé. 1798-1945. Aux sources de l'archéologie. Éditions du CNRS, Paris 2007, p. 750 f.
• Jean Pouilloux : Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Pierre Devambez, membre de l'Académie. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 1981, pp. 465-477 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Pierre Devambez on the website of the Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques .
• Pierre Devambez on the website of the École pratique des hautes études .

Remarks

1. ↑ E.g. Pierre Devambez: Les fouilles de Thasos, 1925-1931. In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique . Volume 56, 1932, pp. 232-286 ( digitized version ); Sculptures d'un monument chorégique à Thasos. In: Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot. Volume 38, 1941, pp. 93-116 ( digitized version ); Sculptures thasiennes. In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. 'Volume 66-67, 1942, pp. 200-227 ( digitized version ); Questions thasiennes. In: Journal des Savants . 1955, pp. 28–40 ( digitized version ) and p. 73–91 ( digitized version ).
2. ↑ E.g. Pierre Devambez: Deux nouvelles hydries de Caeré au Louvre. In: Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot. Volume 41, 1946, pp. 29-62 ( digitized version ); together with François Villard : Un vase orientalisant polychrome au Musee du Louvre. In: Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot. Volume 62, 1979, pp. 13-41 ( digitized version ).