Nicolas Cordon |
I am a PhD candidate in History of Early Modern Art at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France). My doctoral research regards the functions of stucco figures in Italian decorative systems, from the Renaissance to Baroque art. In particular, I consider the problem of the frontier in art and its original interpretation by stucco artists in this period, and the interaction between painting and sculpture in Mannerist and Baroque decorative systems. Stucco has received quite a marginal attention from early modern theory of art, in contrast with the importance this medium has been given by artists for the decoration of palaces and churches from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth century. In many examples, stucco figures are used as framing figures for mural or ceiling paintings, and my research aims at defining the implications of this peripheral/marginal/ornamental position. I am greatly looking forward to the Conference, for it would be a special occasion to meet other scholars or artists who do not consider these questions as marginal and are willing to establish links, comparaisons and engaging exchanges « on the margin ».
I co-organised in 2014, with Elli Doulkaridou, Caroline Heering and Edouard Degans, the international conference « Jeux et enjeux du cadre dans les systèmes décoratifs à l’époque moderne », Paris, INHA (May 9-10, 2014), which focused on the question of the frame in early modern art, from both a semeiological and historical point of view. I also participated in several conferences about the functions of ornament in decorative art, and published articles in scientific journals or conference proceedings, mainly about the implications of stucco in this field. From 2011 I have been a teaching assistant at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon- Sorbonne, where I prepared lectures and class activities focusing on History of Early Modern Art in Europe. |
marginal figures of (dis)order:
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This paper reconsiders the marginal position of stucco figures in the mannerist decorative systems of the Fontainebleau Castle, and the theoretical implications of such marginality. Theory of early modern art has reduced stucco sculpture to its ornamental nature even though Mannerist artists gave to this medium a quite sophisticated use – the decoration of King François I’s Gallery designed by Rosso Fiorentino at Fontainebleau (1532-1540) is one famous example. In this gallery, frescoes of mythological and allegorical subjects are framed and surrounded by a profusion of stucco figures showing abundance, diversity and vivacity. The visual impact of the central frescoes is substantially diminished by these marginal figures which transgress the peripheral borders and fully participate in the iconographic meaning of the paintings they surround. This opulence creates an effect of semantic proliferation, which Erwin Panofsky described as « marginal glosses ». However, I believe that in Rosso’s decorative system, « centre » and « margins » are not steady positions, and that this hierarchical ambiguity is an essential point in the whole discourse. Rosso’s stuccoes have often been interpreted as factors of disorder, of refined mess ; I would like to go further on this idea. Are these figures « ornamental », actually ? In classical theory of art ornament is related to order : it is the kosmos of the Greeks where things have a definite place and function. Do margins have to be submitted to this jurisdiction ? Or is the ability to disturb and confuse the very essence of margins ? In Primaticcio’s decoration of the Bedchamber of Madame d’Étampes (1541-1544) at Fontainebleau, graceful feminine nudes made of stucco resemble mannerist Aphrodites, and are – literally – presenting the painted pictures to the beholder. Some of these paintings have an erotical subject, accordingly to the function of the King’s mistress bedroom, but the erotism exuding from the stucco figures is far more tangible, concrete and palpable. The sense of touch is visually engaged here, in both mediums – marginal stucco and central painting. My aim will be to show that this haptic dimension can be interpreted as a deliberate blurring of the ontological frontiers between centre and margins, ergon and parergon. In the end, the marginal position of the nudes modeled in stucco, bordering the painted pictures, diverts the beholder’s gaze, inviting him or her to drift towards the edges and to focus less on the paintings : a meaningful marginal disorder that was certainly much enjoyed at the time. |