Populariser l’archéologie chrétienne. Il Medioevo francese e il dibattito ottocentesco sulle arti decorative

This paper focuses on the role played by the decorative arts in shaping a new context for Christian art in 19th century France, merging it into a wider cultural and social narrative. In 1802, the publication of Chateaubriand’s La genie du Christianisme generated a renewed interest in the study of the Christian religion in post-Revolutionary France. By mid-century, French scholars such as Didron, Texier and Corblet explored the meanings of Christian decorative art, aiming their studies at artists, artisans and the clergy. These studies, as well as manuals and articles in periodicals spawned a revival of interest in the art of the Middle Ages. The Medieval era was regarded in these publications as a Golden Age for Christianity, during which civil and religious societies co-existed harmoniously. Admirers of Gothic art sought to revive its spirit, style and shape in contemporary art. New canons emerged to provide craftsmen and artists with suitable models, appropriate to the liturgical reforms underway at the time. These theoretical and artistic debates found tangible expression in new presentations of Christian art in French museums – Cluny and Amiens, for example – as well as in exhibitions (such as the Exposition d’art religieux at Lille in 1874) and in a renewed interest for Christian art among collectors and dealers. Most collections encompassed works of art from the Early Christian era through the 19th century, thereby introducing a larger public to Christian art set into an encyclopaedic, multi-confessional narrative.