Resumen de L'église comme « salon continuel » de la peinture ? L'exemple de la commande de l'abbaye de Marchiennes à Cazes, Vien, Pierre et Restout
The discovery of several documents in unpublished archives, first reveals the fate of the most important commission of religious painting in Northern France in the middle of the 18th century. Cazes, Vien, Restout and Pierre were all associated with this program, comprising four large format canvases, destined for the Abbaye de Marchiennes near Douai. This ensemble, dismantled during the Revolution, has never been studied, and the participation of Vien and Restout has remained totally unknown to scholars until the present time. The study of the terms used in the agreements and the contracts reveal the importance of the cultural and artistic model of the Abbaye de Saint Germain des Près for this provincial Benedictine community. It also leads to the study of the role of Parisian churches as windows of contemporary creation. The choice of artists made by the Abbots of Marchiennes was based on the determinant criteria of reputation and visibility, and suggests ties of sociability with the circle of the Abbaye de Saint Germain. The coherence of the choice of subjects, in accordance with the central theme of the Eucharist in the ritual of meals according to the rule of Saint Benoît, summons the emphasis of the prime importance of the religious function of these works within a theological device associating the visual with the auditory.
