Prosper Mérimée

1. Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873)
Florinda, 1853
Oil on canvas - 178.4 x 245.7 cm
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Photo: Didier Rykner

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A writer, of course, and one of the best of the French nineteenth century, of which there were many, but also a historian, art critic and many other things besides, Prosper Mérimée is a fascinating character. And La Tribune de l’Art, whose vocation includes defending our heritage, is bound to admire this man who was one of the first to defend historic monuments in France. The exhibition at the Château de Compiègne covers all his activities. It is, let it be said straight away, absolutely remarkable, and will fully satisfy art lovers. In addition to works linked to the writer’s life (portraits of his colleagues and friends, documents relating to his work as inspector of historic monuments, drawings and prints illustrating his novels and plays, etc.), the exhibition also looks at three subjects directly linked to the artistic production of his time. An evocation of the career of his father, who was an honourable neoclassical painter, even though he gave up his career as an artist fairly quickly; the drawings and watercolours of Prosper Mérimée himself, who had a very talented pencil stroke; and finally his activity as an art critic, which he exercised on the occasion of two Parisian Salons (1839 and 1853) and which allow us to admire certain works that he mentioned, sometimes coming from far away (a painting from the Metropolitan Museum, for example - ill. 1) and often little known.

2. Simon Jacques Rochard (1788-1872)
Portrait of Léonor Mérimée, 1828
Black chalk, highlights in wash and gouache, pastel - 18 x 15.1 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Didier Rykner

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3. Léonor Mérimée (1757-1836)
Vertumne and Pomona, 1798-1799
Oil on canvas - 39.5 x 30 cm
Montpellier, Musée Fabre
Photo: Didier Rykner

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