Entre la danse macabre et l’apologie de la vie, ou les vanités selon Joris-Karl Huysmans
Loading...
Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Dans l’œuvre huysmansienne, en particulier celle de la transition entre sa phase décadente, marquée par Là-bas (1891), et la période du naturalisme mystique, dont le fruit le plus mûr reste La Cathédrale (1898), il est possible de retracer la transformation complète et profonde du traitement de la vanitas. Le présent article propose une analyse de trois étapes de cette évolution. Il part de la vanitas macabre de Là-bas, proche de l’esthétique de Félicien Rops, auquel Huysmans s’intéresse dans les années 1880, et du motif de la tentation de saint Antoine dans les arts de la fin du Moyen-Âge et du début de Renaissance. Ensuite, il examine l’approche huysmansienne à la Crucifixion de Cassel et au retable d’Issenheim de Matthias Grünewald, qui constitue un passage entre l’esthétique de la danse macabre et celle du naturalisme mystique. Finalement, il étudie le legs des ekphraseis de Grünewald: l’apologie de la vie et un regard nouveau sur la vanitas dans La Cathédrale.
In Joris-Karl Huysmans’ works, particularly those created in the transition between his decadent phase, symbolised by Down there (1891), and the period of mystical naturalism, which reaches its peak with The Cathedral (1898), it is possible to trace a complete and profound evolution of the vanitas motif. This article offers an analysis of three major stages of this change. It begins with the macabre vanitas characteristic for Down there. It is interpreted in the light of Félicien Rops’ aesthetics, which fascinates Huysmans in the 1880s, and the artistic adaptations of the temptation of saint Anthony in late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Then, the article examines Huysmans’ approach to the Karlsruhe and the Isenheim Altar pieces by Matthias Grünewald, which marks a transition between the aesthetics of the dance of death and the mystical naturalism. The article finishes with a study of Grünewald’s ekphraseis’ legacy : the apology of life, a new interpretation of the vanitas in The Cathedral.
In Joris-Karl Huysmans’ works, particularly those created in the transition between his decadent phase, symbolised by Down there (1891), and the period of mystical naturalism, which reaches its peak with The Cathedral (1898), it is possible to trace a complete and profound evolution of the vanitas motif. This article offers an analysis of three major stages of this change. It begins with the macabre vanitas characteristic for Down there. It is interpreted in the light of Félicien Rops’ aesthetics, which fascinates Huysmans in the 1880s, and the artistic adaptations of the temptation of saint Anthony in late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Then, the article examines Huysmans’ approach to the Karlsruhe and the Isenheim Altar pieces by Matthias Grünewald, which marks a transition between the aesthetics of the dance of death and the mystical naturalism. The article finishes with a study of Grünewald’s ekphraseis’ legacy : the apology of life, a new interpretation of the vanitas in The Cathedral.
Description
Keywords
vanitas, Huysmans, Grünewald, Christ, cathédrale, cathedral
Citation
"Quêtes littéraires" 2018, nº 8, s. 129-139