Voir le Sacré : perception et visibilité du maître-autel au XVIIe siècle (2e partie)

Abstract

The first article on this topic dealt with ways of seeing the high altar through the example of the altar at the Minim Convent of the Place Royale in Paris. The present article goes on to look at the various treatises on perspective dating from the seventeenth century and touching on the question of altars. The first is the pioneer treatise by Jean Pèlerin, dit Viator (1505), republished by Mathurin Jousse in a new edition in 1635. Next comes the treatise by Hans Vredman de Vries, which contains an engraving dated 1606. Both these texts are essentially designed as exercises for artists or distractions for scholars. In the treatise bvjean Du Breuil (1642-1649), the number of possible perspective points of view increases. Some of the altar paintings proposed here are formed in a curious manner, with several elements in front of each other, rather like the decors in a stage setting. They allow for more realistic effects than a piece putting all its perspective onto a two dimensional surface. The treatise by Grégoire Huret (1670) is opposed to the thesis of the unique viewpoint on the altar painting, and supposes that the spectator is free to move around in front of the work. This less theoretical perspective seems to be associated with a certain separation between reality and its representation, and, consequently, between the religious image and the sacredness it may contain.