Nicolas Poussin's Theory of Vision : The Formation and Development of Tableau in Early Modern France

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K00192
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 01060:History of arts-related
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: Mochizuki Noriko 慶應義塾大学, 文学部(三田), 教授 (40449020)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: ニコラ・プッサン / タブロー / 歴史画 / 王立絵画彫刻アカデミー / 視覚論

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study reexamines the formation and development of tableau, a form of painting that become autonomous entities by being detached and framed from a specific function or location, from the perspective of “tableau as history painting”. In particular, we focus on the system of figuration (vision) of the 17th century painter Nicolas Poussin, who played an important role in its development, and on the theorization of history painting at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which followed his example. This study examines the limitations of Poussin’s visual theory and the diversity it encompasses at the juncture between the establishment of tableau, a painting autonomous from its religious function, and modernist painting, which shook its framework, providing a new perspective on the study of tableau, a painting form specific to the West.

Free Research Field

西洋美術史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近代の西洋絵画を「支配」してきたタブローという視覚システムのひとつの起源として、ニコラ・プッサンの中型作品に注目し、「距離をおいて枠づけて見ること」に執着した画家の視覚の論理を改めて反省的に問い直すことは、西洋美術史の読み換えがなされ、周辺領域との学際研究も盛んな西洋美術史あるいはイメージ学において一定の学術的意義を有していると言える。また今日、文化活動として盛んになっている美術鑑賞の本質やその歴史について、一般の人々にも伝える契機となる研究として、社会的意義を有する。