Beeldhouwwerk van het Palais du Louvre: "Lannes" door Vital Dubray c. 1855 - 1857

Curator: What a curious composition. A monument of stone immortalized on paper. Editor: Yes, this gelatin-silver print by Edouard Baldus, taken between 1855 and 1857, depicts Vital Dubray’s sculpture, “Lannes,” which is found at the Palais du Louvre. Curator: The sculpture occupies a sort of architectural niche, the edges softly blurred. And the figure, tell me, what sort of impression do you get? I find its pose self-conscious, almost theatrical. Editor: The contrapposto is definitely present—a deliberate sway to the hips that introduces a dynamic S-curve. That classical form, coupled with the figure's somewhat vacant stare, lends to a sense of detached grandeur. It's Neo-classical, certainly, yet captured through the emerging technology of photography. It has a rather historical sentiment. Curator: And "Lannes" himself, Jean Lannes, was a celebrated French military commander, a close friend of Napoleon. The sculpture itself then, becomes a vessel, a repository of cultural memory surrounding a national hero, carefully curated and presented to the public. He represents valour, loyalty, perhaps even the imperial ambitions of the era. Editor: Indeed. The play of light across the draped fabric, the sharp definition of the face and hands, draw the eye and further solidify the work. There's a semiotic weight here, with sculpture, photography and figuration intertwining to emphasize the importance of this specific individual to a growing national consciousness. It certainly offers an engagement between memory and material. Curator: To what end do you think? Was it just to say Lannes existed and was indeed a war hero, or that he still embodies key characteristics within the population, as in courage and perseverance? Editor: That is always the implicit intent of grand sculptural works of this scale, isn’t it? It is about setting exemplars of the desired cultural identity into stone… and in this instance, on paper, too. It gives an insight into the era of this nations history. Curator: An era captured twice, as sculpture and photograph. Food for thought. Editor: It most certainly is.