Dimanche 26 mai 2013
Last update on 24/05/2013
Last update on 24/05/2013
The latest news in the History of Western Art from the Middle Ages to the 1930's
The Troglodyte Church of Haute-Isle and its 17th century Furnishings 01/10/2012
We often find fault with mayors who disregard their heritage but do not wish to overlook the many who fortunately assume their responsibilities and fight to protect and restore the historical monuments in their towns. We will attempt to present (...)
An Interview with Alexandre Gady, President of the S.P.P.E.F. 15/09/2012
Interview d’Alexandre Gady par latribunedelart Written transcription (slightly abridged) : What is the S.P.P.E.F.? It is the oldest existing association for the protection of French heritage because it was created the day after the law for (...)
Saint-Saturnin : the Priest, the Minister’s Mother and the High Altar 01/08/2012
The wave of vandalism affecting French churches in the 1960’s up to the early 1970’s was devastating. The pretext claiming to apply the directives of Council Vatican II was used as a practical excuse for as we know, Italy for example, did not (...)
Roman Emperors versus Haute Couture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris 01/08/2012
We cannot help but regret the criticism leveled by Aurélie Filippeti - and recently repeated in fact - at the Wendel firm, a patron of the Centre Pompidou Metz. We say this because, to our knowledge, their funding is carried out in a perfectly (...)
What Lies in the Future for the Hotel-Dieu in Lyon ? 01/08/2012
The Hotel-Dieu in Lyon, built by Soufflot in the 18th century, though founded in the 12th, is one of the most beautiful and most important monuments in this city but also one of the least well known. The reason for this is that it was (...)
Chief Architect Jacques Moulin, Dismissed from Fontainebleau, Soon at Versailles ? 30/07/2012
Versailles-land ? Our article at the time had caused somewhat of a stir. The entrance to the chateau, with the fake grille shining like a trinket and the gilt roof tops appearing as never before in the architectural layout, alas, would indeed (...)
The Affair of the Battle of Anghiari 13/06/2012
"Mister Mayor, be careful what you do at the Palazzo Vecchio in the Salone dei Cinquecenti !..." These were the words pronounced last 28 May, during the social event organized for the presentation of the restored Saint Anne at the Louvre, by (...)
Business Patronage Imperiled 12/06/2012
In an article published Monday, 11 June on liberation.fr (but not, or not yet, in its paper edition), Vincent Noce reveals that the French Ministry of the Budget is planning "to reduce by half the deduction offered to companies for their (...)
Roland-Garros : A Counter-Proposal by the Associations 05/06/2012
We have spoken extensively on this site of the Fédération Française de Tennis and the city of Paris’ determination to extend the site of the Roland-Garros tournament to the Serres d’Auteuil with the tacit complicity of the State. Several local and (...)
The Solar Decathlon, another Threat to the Park in Versailles 07/05/2012
We know that François de Mazières had supported the pernicious "urbanisme de projet" of Benoist Apparu, in his capacity of "Mayor of Versailles, President of the Agglomerated Community of Versailles Grand Parc, President of the Cité de (...)
Versailles : 520,000 euros per Hectare ! 12/03/2012
The city of Versailles, faced with the scandal rising from its PLU project, is now proposing to return the land corresponding to the former Pion barracks to the government. The conditions of this sale - still valid at time of publication - are (...)
Church Destructions : A Few Victories and New Threats 21/02/2012
The danger to several churches which some mayors wish to see destroyed and which we have often mentioned here is still very real but circumstances have improved for some of them. We feel it is time to take stock by pointing out these victories (...)
Le Bon Pasteur and Saint Bernard, Two Endangered Churches in the Heart of Lyon 20/02/2012
The lack of protection of French heritage is a proven fact still ignored by too many people. While classifying or listing a historical monument is no guarantee that it will be preserved, not doing so makes it even more difficult to save (...)
Château d’Ancenis : Frédéric Mitterand and his Responsibilities 01/02/2012
A little over a year ago we had asked the following question in a series of articles : "what use are the laws on historical monuments ?". One of them discussed the château d’Ancenis, threatened by the Conseil Général de Loire-Atlantique, with the (...)
Jean-Jacques Aillagon States his Position on the Versailles PLU Project 01/02/2012
We spoke with Jean-Jacques Aillagon about the PLU Project for the city of Versailles and as we found his position on the subject particularly interesting, we asked him two questions which he graciously accepted to (...)
Versailles City Hall Blunders on the SDRIF 27/01/2012
We have already explained here why the argument presented by the Mayor of Versailles claiming the Schéma directeur de la région d’Ile-de-France (SDRIF) as a truly restrictive document cannot be taken seriously. We can now definitely prove that it (...)
The Curious Response from Versailles City Hall 19/01/2012
The response from Versailles City Hall to our articles, published here, is interesting. First of all because it does not bring into question any of our conclusions concerning the PLU, that is notably its consequences in terms of density and (...)
The Response of Versailles City Hall concerning the PLU 18/01/2012
Upon reading the two articles in La Tribune de l’Art, it would seem that a certain number of legal points have not been taken into consideration. We find it useful to provide a few more enlightening remarks which will help readers to better (...)
The Plan Local d’Urbanisme in Versailles : from bad to worse 16/01/2012
The Versailles Municipal Council, on 24 November 2011, approved a revision of the Plan Local d’Urbanisme [Local Zoning Plan]. The city is therefore determined to implement its project consisting in replacing its current reversible zoning policy (...)
Eyewitness Reports from Cairo after the Fire at the Institut d’Egypte 02/01/2012
As reported extensively in the media, last 17 december a fire broke out at the Institut Egyptien during the clashes between demonstrators and police. We have not yet commented on this sad event as we had no precise information concerning the (...)
The nuisance of billboards 18/01/2011
The Opera is now hidden, as is the Musée d’Orsay, by a gigantic billboard, while a similar advertisement draws the eye of passers-by at the corner of the rue Saint-Honoré and rue de Richelieu, at the other end of the Avenue de l’Opéra within the (...)
Giant billboards : Paris is just like Venice 06/01/2011
Four years ago, the Code du patrimoine was modified by a law (issued by Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres…) authorizing, under very specific conditions, billboards to be hung over the canvases covering historical monuments during repairs. We had not (...)
Versailles and Fontainebleau : two projects for hotels inside historical monuments 26/12/2010
The latest trend is making historical monuments profitable. Although we are generally against the idea, which often accounts for many abuses, we must admit that in some cases, it is well justified. The projects for Versailles – which (...)
The state of churches in Paris (1) : Saint-Philippe-du-Roule 18/12/2010
This article inaugurates a new series devoted to Parisian churches. Although we often point out endangered religious sites, those here in the capital have escaped our attention thus far as we tend to assume that they are well (...)
« Hôtel de la Marine, a prestigious and exceptional building » 08/12/2010
We had illustrated several of the articles on the Hôtel de la Marine with a picture showing the façade of the monument bearing a large sign “To let. Very beautiful location”. Alas, reality is stranger than fiction : on the Budget Ministry’s (...)
Serres d’Auteuil : Bertrand Delanoë’s omissions, inaccuracies and untruths 28/11/2010
Françoise Hardy is one of over 22,000 persons who have thus far signed the petition against the Roland-Garros extension into the Serres d’Auteil. She has furthermore written a letter to the mayor of Paris protesting the (...)
The ZPPAUP are now only empty shells 15/11/2010
We have already discussed the elimination of the Zone of Protection for Architectural, Urban and Landscape Patrimony (ZPPAUP) on several occasions, and the fact that they have been replaced by the AVAP (Areas of Value enhancement for (...)
Venice overrun by giant billboards 30/10/2010
The situation is turning into a national scandal in Italy and an international petition has been launched by the British Committee for the Preservation of Venice, addressed to the Italian Cultural Minister, Sandro Bondi, signed by prestigious (...)
The Mayor of Paris willing to sacrifice the Serres d’Auteuil 29/10/2010
Those of you who have never visited the Serres d’Auteuil, should waste no time in discovering this magnificent landmark, significant for its historical heritage with its greenhouses built in 1897 by Camille Formigé as well as its extraordinary (...)
The zoo at Vincennes should not disappear ! 01/10/2010
The “parc zoologique de Paris”, which covers an area of 14.5 hectares (about 36 acres), in the heart of the Bois de Vincennes, closed to the public in 2008. Since then, the Museum, which manages the zoo, has launched a major renovations project (...)
The mayor of Lens wants to destroy a historical monument 05/09/2010
When the government and the Ministry of Culture decide to join forces, in an exemplary manner for once, and apply the law protecting historical monuments, we see just how useful it can be. A local elected official, Guy Delcourt, the mayor of (...)
The purpose of this series of articles is to prove, illustrating specific cases, that for the most part, and despite recent Parliamentary threats, French law provides satisfactory protection of our heritage if only those in charge of applying (...)
In 2003, the chateau of Luneville was partly destroyed by fire causing many people to express their dismay, including politicians who had until then never showed any interest in this 18th century masterpiece and which is now undergoing (...)
What use are the laws protecting historical monuments ? (2) : the amphitheatre in Fréjus 03/07/2010
The Art Tribune theoretically does not cover the field of Antiquity but our continuing fight against vandalism forces us today to denounce the project, sponsored by the Direction Régionale des Monuments Historiques and therefore by the Ministry (...)
Threat of demolition for the church of Saint Jacques in Abbeville 30/05/2010
The church of Saint Jacques in Abbeville is located in a neighborhood spared by the bombings which destroyed 80% of the city in 1940. It was built in a neo-Gothic style by the architect Victor Deleforterie, a follower of Viollet-le-Duc, on the (...)
What use are the laws protecting historical monuments ? (1) : the château d’Ancenis 30/05/2010
French legislation protecting historical monuments, despite some recent attacks, should allow us to still preserve our heritage in an effective manner if only it were applied consistently when needed. This article will inaugurate a new series (...)
The Louis Daguerre Diorama is reborn in Bry-sur-Marne 26/05/2010
Not content with having invented the photographic process bearing his name, the painter Louis Daguerre also created the Diorama, a theatrical method by which an immense canvas painted on both sides was animated by lights (...)
After the two Poussin affairs, it’s now Friedrich’s turn 13/03/2010
While traveling through Germany in 1834, David d’Angers visited Caspar David Frierdrich in his Dresden workshop. He writes in his travel journal
Wintzenheim, more vandalism in the offing ? 03/12/2009
The Alsatian community of Wintzenheim, near Colmar, had made the news sadly a few months ago in devastating the exterior sculptures of the Hertzog chapel (see article). A Neo-Gothic construction built between 1860 and 1862, it was in fact (...)
Concrete question : how to mortgage the Hôtel de la Marine ? 24/10/2009
A meeting involving various ministries was held last 15 September with the purpose of determining the “Valorization of the Hôtel de la Marine”. In the minds of our political leaders, this monument built by Gabriel is now in fact only an asset to (...)
In Alexandria, the Villa Aghion by the Perret brothers gutted ! 13/10/2009
During the night of 28 August 2009, after several years of quiet fighting, fate finally struck and the Villa Aghion built by the Perret brothers in Alexandria in 1926-1927 was gutted by bulldozers, in total disregard of Egyptian (...)
The restoration of the Hôtel Lambert goes to court before the Tribunal Administratif 06/09/2009
Louis Le Vau Hôtel Lambert, courtyard Photo : SCI Hôtel Lambert / M. Lombard This summer the Hôtel Lambert case took a surprising legal turn. The authorization permit issued by the Ministry of Culture (see news item of 23/6/09) was appealed (...)
Vandalism of a Neo-gothic chapel in Alsace 06/09/2009
The Herzog chapel in the Logelbach district of Zintzenheim, near Colmar, bears the name of its commissioners, an industrialist family headed by Antoine Herzog (1786-1861) and his sons Antoine (1816-1892) and Eugène (...)
Disappeared in 1763, now claimed by the Ministry of Culture ! 12/07/2009
Among the more delicate cases awaiting the attention of the new Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterand, one has not yet been talked about but should soon make the headlines in the world of French cultural (...)
The Hôpital Richaud, soon in ruins in the heart of Versailles 30/04/2009
Visitors to the château de Versailles who arrive at the Rive-Droite train station walk by a superb 18th century monument, the Hôpital Richaud.
Baltard to be destroyed (bis repetita) 20/04/2009
True, in this case the buildings do not concern Victor Baltard, but his father Louis-Pierre. However, the parallel is overwhelming
Prison Saint-Joseph by Louis-Pierre Baltard 20/04/2009
The Saint Joseph prison in Lyon by Louis-Pierre Baltard is doubly important in the history of architecture. First of all, along with the palace of justice by the same Baltard, this is one of the most important 19th century monuments in this (...)
French government to sell off Notre Dame in Paris ! 01/04/2009
Façade of future L… M… Water World (before restoration), Paris Photo : Wikipedia We know that the French government, desperately in need of money, is selling off whatever it can. After the Hôtel de la Marine, it was obvious that this (...)
Hôtel de la Marine : will France go to the highest bidder ? 31/03/2009
In this very discreet fiftieth anniversary of the Ministry of Culture, French citizens should feel the duty to gather support in defense of their national heritage, in this case the Hôtel de l’Etat-Major de la Marine and those projects which the (...)
Hôtel Lambert : the benefits of the controversy 15/03/2009
Louis Le Vau (1612-1670) Paris, Hôtel Lambert Photo : D. Rykner On Monday 9 March, during a four-hour marathon session, the Commission supérieure des monuments historiques validated, with extensive reservations, the restoration project for the (...)
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