Pierre Paul Prud'hon and the Genius of Allegory

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Art History
Degree name
Masters of Arts
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Humanities
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2010
Authors
McConnell, Rachel
Abstract

Pierre Paul Prud’hon (1758-1823) lived and worked as an artist during the last years of the French Monarchy, the Revolution, the Republic, the Empire and finally the Restoration. He mostly worked with allegory, setting him apart from other artists at the time, such as Jacques Louis David. While Prud’hon was a significant artist in his own time, he is only just being rehabilitated today. In this thesis I trace Prud’hon’s artistic career as an allegorical painter through the different governments, examining thematically his different types of allegories, from the moral to the political. In particular, the context of allegory is examined, including how Prud’hon approaches allegory and criticism and interpretation of his use of allegory. This examination of Prud’hon highlights what was so unusual about Prud’hon’s art – primarily his use, with reasonable success, of allegory. This alone makes it clear that he should be held in higher regard by today’s art historians.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Prud'hon, French Revolution, Artist, Allegory
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
Copyright Rachel McConnell