The "Narrative" of the Tableau: An Introduction to the History of Early Modern French Painting

Since childhood, the Western paintings I was most familiar with were the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works in the collections of Tokyo museums. These paintings, created in the West and traveling across the sea to be exhibited in Japanese museums, perfectly demonstrate the characteristics of the tableau: autonomy and portability. I had always recognized Western painting as being synonymous with the tableau. However, when I traveled through Europe as a student and experienced large-scale works decorating Catholic cathedrals and palaces in-situ, I was helplessly overwhelmed by the solemn, mystical, or secular and festive atmospheres these spaces evoked. These are works that depend entirely on their location and cannot (easily) be moved; they are the antithesis of the tableau.

The 17th-century French painter Nicolas Poussin trained in Paris but spent most of his career in Rome. While the Eternal City was being filled with the dynamic and theatrical art of the Baroque, and while many Italian painters were making names for themselves with large-scale frescoes, Poussin persisted in creating medium-sized tableaux. Within the space enclosed by a frame, he painted narrative works intended to be gazed at from a certain distance and deciphered through reason for private art lovers in Italy and his homeland. Naturally, there were various conflicts, but while possessing the traditions of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, he continued to explore a serene and intellectual world in Rome—the very place where grand, emotionally overflowing Baroque art had blossomed.

Unlike paintings that draw the viewer in at a single glance, Poussin's works are meant to be read carefully while maintaining a distance to enjoy the balance of the clever composition within the frame. This does not mean they lack emotion. Rather, a powerful intellect governs it, maintaining an exquisite balance and restraint.

His medium-sized tableaux are known to have significantly influenced the subsequent art of the French Academy of Fine Arts. It is particularly interesting how this led to the grand ceiling decorations of the Palace of Versailles, designed to inevitably instill the King's authority in visitors. Centered on Poussin's art, this book is an ambitious attempt within a small volume to provide an overview of the history that the autonomous form of Western painting known as the tableau followed amidst its conflict with decorative painting, examining its form, transformations in subject matter, and relationship with the viewer.

The "Narrative" of the Tableau: An Introduction to the History of Early Modern French Painting

Noriko Mochizuki

Keio University Mita Philosophy Society Series

104 pages, 700 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.