Alexandre Lenoir
Encyclopedia
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, notably those of Saint-Denis and Sainte-Geneviève.
Life
The ravages of the Revolution caused the birth of the Musée des monuments français. Thanks to support from Jean Sylvain Bailly, Alexandre Lenoir successfully demanded that all art objects from state properties be gathered together in this museum. These objects were confiscated at different religious houses and stored in a single place to avoid their dispersal and destruction.Mandated by the National Constituent Assembly
National Constituent Assembly
The National Constituent Assembly was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. It dissolved on 30 September 1791 and was succeeded by the Legislative Assembly.-Background:...
in 1791, he brought together the works spared from the couvent des Petits Augustins, now part of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...
.
On 1 August 1793, the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
decreed that the tombs of "former kings" should be destroyed. Alexandre Lenoir witnessed the destruction of the royal tombs, with the bones thrown into a ditch. He struggled against revolutionary vandalism and managed to save statues and loot which he stored at the couvent des Petits-Augustins.
In 1795, he opened the Musée des monuments français to the public — he was its administrator for 30 years.
In 1816, under the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
, he had to return the majority of his collections to their former public and private owners.
His wife Adélaïde née Binart (1771–1832) exhibited at the Salons under the name Lenoir.
Portraits
- By Marie-Geneviève Bouliard, exhibited at the 1796 salonParis SalonThe Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
, bought by the musée Carnavalet in 1899 - By Pierre-Maximilien DelafontainePierre-Maximilien DelafontainePierre-Maximilien Delafontaine was a French painter. After a long illness he re-established himself as a bronze sculptor.-Life:...
, dated 1799, given by Alexandre's grandson Alfred Lenoir to the musée national du château de VersaillesPalace of VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles.... - By Jacques-Louis DavidJacques-Louis DavidJacques-Louis David was an influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era...
- begun in France and completed in 1817 in BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, acquired in 1921 by the Louvre