The Poem of the Soul - Thirty-four paintings and explanatory text by Louis Janmot
MX019610
€ 20
FRENCH LANGUAGE
The Poem of the Soul, a pictorial and literary cycle unique in the history of French art, occupies a major place in the artistic career of Louis Janmot (1814-1892). Begun in Rome in the 1830s, it was presented for the first time in 1854, then added to as he attended the Salons, and Louis Janmot arrived at an almost definitive version in 1879.
The Poem of the Soul consists of 18 paintings and 16 drawings, accompanied by 2814 verses that form the commentary. Hundreds of preparatory drawings and execution cartoons testify to Janmot's labour and energy in conceiving and completing this exceptional work, whose style and meaning evolved in response to aesthetic and philosophical influences and the trials of a life marked by melancholy.
Exhibition « Louis Janmot, The Poem of the Soul », musée d'Orsay, Paris, from September 13th, 2023 to January 7th, 2024.
