Exhibition at the museum
Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1921), History painter
From October 07th, 1997 to January 04th, 1998
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L'Excommunication de Robert le Pieux, en 1875
Musée d'Orsay
© RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski
See the notice of the artwork
A devoted republican and self-declared anticlericalist, Laurens expressed his personal convictions in his subjects, castigating the excesses of hereditary political power (Le Bas Empire, Honorius, 1880) or religious fanaticism (Sixtus IV and Torquemada, 1882). His achievement as a decorator was considerable in the Pantheon, the Capitole in Toulouse, the Paris Hotel de Ville, etc. - as well as his work as an illustrator, eaux-fortes and drawings. An important figure of the artistic scene of his time, he magnificently illustrated Michelet's well-known formula: "History is a rebirth".
The exhibition is now over.
See the whole program