Vivant Denon

Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon (; 4 January 1747 – 27 April 1825) was a French artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist. Denon was a diplomat for France under Louis XV and Louis XVI. He made a portrait of the philosopher, which was engraved and published on his return to Paris. His next diplomatic appointment was to Naples, where he spent seven years, first as secretary to the embassy and afterwards as chargé d'affaires. He devoted this period to a careful study of the monuments of ancient art, collecting many specimens and making drawings of others. He also perfected himself in etching and mezzotinto engraving. He accompanied General Desaix to Upper Egypt, and made numerous sketches of the monuments of ancient art, sometimes under the very fire of the enemy. The results were published in his Voyage dans la basse et la haute Egypte (Journey in Lower and Upper Egypt), published as two volumes in 1802. The work crowned his reputation both as an archaeologist and as an artist, and sparked Egyptian Revival architecture and decorative arts.

He died in Paris and is buried in the world famous Père Lachaise Cemetery, where his grave is marked by a life-sized statue.

Legacy

In Napoleon III's Louvre expansion in the 1850s, Denon's name was given to the central pavilion of the Nouveau Louvre's South Wing. In the Grand Louvre project of the late 1980s, the entire South Wing of the Louvre Palace was named after him (aile Denon, echoing Richelieu to the North and Sully to the East) as part of a signposting concept developed by the Carbone Smolan Agency.

Works

A note at the beginning of this book states 'Point De Lendemain, the authorship of which has also been attributed to Vivant Denon was first published in 1777'. Hence the authorship being stated as Dorat in Sutton's translation.

In fiction Anthony O'Neill included the character of Vivant Denon in his novel The Empire of Eternity, in which he is portrayed as bisexual.

Lee Langley has written a biographical novel of Denon's life, A conversation on the Quai Voltaire.

Ruth McKenney also includes the character of Vivant Denon in her novel Mirage.

Milan Kundera's Slowness (1995) includes a rewriting of Vivant-Denon's Point de lendemain.

References and sources