#Jacques Aubert

[gasparodasalo]

Jacques Aubert (1689-1753) - Concert de simphonies No. 5 for Flutes, Oboes, Violins and Basso continuo in F-Major, VII. Tambourin I & II. Performed by Simon Standage/Collegium Musicum 90 on period instruments.

[lesser-known-composers]

Jacques Aubert (1689–1753)

[onmymusicstand]

Here's a my recording of a lovely piece from the book 50 Graded Studies for descant Recorder by S. Adams and P. Harris. It's the study Le Tourbillon (No 15), a short Baroque piece by Jacques Aubert.

I really love that book: it contains beautiful pieces, their technical difficulties are varied, interesting and well displayed according to their difficulty: at my level each piece puts me just above my abilities, so it's an efficient book for my improvement.

I've decided to record all my favorite pieces from this book, so more recordings are coming!

[psalm22-6]

Comoedia, 5 February 1934 (note the picture of Harry Baur by the masthead!) So I learned that the 1934 Les Mis film premiered two nights before a far-right anti-government riot! And you can feel that there was a crisis about to happen in this account of the movie's premiere:

A rough start to the night: there’s the taxi driver’s strike and there’s the parliamentary crisis. The latest information passed from mouth to mouth and most journalists arrived late, bearing the most recent news. “So Emile Fabre is jumping ship?” [Fabre was the director of the Comédie-Française and was apparently being pressured to leave.] “It’s a scandal!” “It’s disgraceful!” “What folly!” “And who is replacing him?” “George Thomé.” [Thomé was a musician as well as the former director the Sûreté.] “Seriously?! They’re going to be cuffing the Comedie-Francaise.” Emile Fabre makes his entrance, followed by his charming daughter. He is just as soon surrounded and interrogated. “I don’t understand! I don’t understand!” “No one understands.” “There is too much to understand.” Our editor-in-chief, who has not always been fond of Emile Fabre, is spotted by his side; he shakes his hand cordially and I note that Pierre Lazareff [editor-in-chief of Paris-Soir] notes this effusive sympathy. A political star enters!...M. [François] Piétri [briefly the Minister of Finance]…thoughtfully and hurriedly, he passes by on swift feet which recently exercised a wise retreat that was, if I dare say, a step ahead of wisdom. He joins Mme. Piétri….It’s impossible to get him to open up!... Caught up in the commotion of the crowd, I hear this brief dialog between a political columnist and a deputy: “And how are your ‘misérables’ doing?” “They are waiting for their Monseigneur Myriel!” The huge Marignan theater is too cramped for this crowd of guests. Luckily Jean-José Frappa and his second in command, Mme. Audibert, thought of everything, took care of everything… And everyone is able to get to the coat check and find his place easily. Because the taxi strike and political events delayed hundreds of people, who then arrived all at once and with haste, this was not an easy task. Who was there? Tout-Paris...I randomly noted with my pencil: Messueirs Paul Abram, Achard, De Adler, Berneuil, Archimbaud, André Aron, Arnaud, Louis Aubert, Aubin, Kujay, Kertée, Azaïs, Bacré, Barthe, Baschet, Baudelocque, Harry-Baur, Bavelier, Robert de Beauplan, Antonin Bédier, Pierre Benoit, Mme Spinelly, Charles Delac and Marcel Vandal, Léon Benoit-Deutsch, André Lang, René Lehmann, Bellanger, Mag Bernard, Tristan Bernard, Jean-Jacques Bernard, Louis Bernard, Dr. Etiënne Bernard (all the Bernards!)...Bernheim, Bernier, Guilaume Besnard, Bétove, Bizet, Blumsteien, Mme Rocher, Boesflug, Pierre de la Boissière, Bollaert, Bouan, Boucher, Robert Bos, Pierre Bost, Paul Brach, Henry Roussell, Charles Burguet, Pierre Brisson, Simone Cerdan, Henry Clerc, Albert Clemenceau, Pière Colombier, Germaine Dulac,Henri Diamant-Berger, Julien Duvivier,Jean Epstein, Fernand Gregh, Mary Glory, René Heribel, Tania Fédor, Alice Field, Jacqueline Francell, Mary Marquet, Florelle, Marguerite Moreno, Françoise Rosay, Becq de Fouquière, Jean Servais, Vidalin, Maria Vaisamaki, Orane Demazis, Rachel Deviry, Rosine Deréan, Jacques Deval, Christiane Delyne, Renée Devillers, Jean Chataigner, Germaine Dermoz, Léon Voltera, Robert Trébor, our director, Jean Laffray, Lucie Derain, Paul Gordeaux, Jean Narguet, Parlay, Suzet Maïs, Antoine Rasimi, Renée de Saint-Cyr, Jean Toulout, Mady Berry, Yolande Laffont, Jean Max, Parysis, Charles Gallo, Léo Poldès, Jean Fayard, Edmonde Guy, Mario Roustan, Paul Strauss, Cavillon, Emile Vuillermoz, Josselyne Gaël, Charles Vanel, S. E. Si Kaddour ben Gabhrit, the duke and duchess of Mortemart, Madame Henry Paté, Marcel Prévost, Louise Weiss, Alfred Savoir, Henri Duvernois, Paul Gémon, magistrate Maurice Garçon, magistrate Campinchi, Sylvette Fillâcier, Jean Heuzé, Pierre, Heuzé, Mona Goya, Simon-Cerf, W.E. Hœndeler, Georges Midlarsky, Michel, Nadine Picard….and others I must be forgetting…pardon me!....Silence!....

In the glow of the half-light from the screen….there are applause! Not since les Croix de bois has a movie been so highly anticipated and now it is time for the verdict….Raymond Bernard can be sure that the audience is rooting for him. Our eyes are full with light and pretty colors. This Paris night is practically magical…and departing from that magic, we are plunged into the great river of les Misérables, into the furious waters of this social storm. Luckily André Lang and Raymond Bernard have made the trip for us. What contrast!  From the spectacle of an elegant and distinguished gathering, we move to the misfortunes of Jean Valjean.

The audience picks up on everything that could be an allusion to the present times. But of all these allusions, one stands out. It’s the lament of two gossips, at the moment when the barricades are rising. “What sad times!” “We’ve barely made it through the cholera…and here is the Republic!” Thunderous applause and mad laughter. When, on the barricades, the Republic calls on us to act, the spectators think of other promised actions which haven’t happened and they forget to applaud. But the whole audience is prodigiously virtuous; whenever a good deed is shown on the screen, when some sentence about the heart graces the white canvas, it is punctuated by applause. After the first film, stop!... Time to eat! There’s a mad dash to the punchbowl. In the haste of this day of crisis and running late, many in the audience did not have time for dinner….the buffet, in the blink of an eye, is emptied and the dry drinks make vindictive and impassioned discussions flow. High and low, here and there, everyone was speaking of the Parliment's chances and the intermission bell sounds in an atmosphere charged with electricity. The two other parts of the film, cut by another intermission, each end with a double ovation for Harry Baur, both in the lobby and in the theater. The little Gaby Triquet is passed from person to person towards a chocolate eclair, which she leaves a trace of on the cheeks of Harry Baur. And then as usual everyone rushes to the coat check.  Then we go to the fifth floor of the Marignan building. There, in an unoccupied apartment, dinner waits for us. There are more than a thousand of us around little eight-person tables. Ten thousand meters of film, that will make you hungry! Three orchestras pour out waltzes, tangos, and other tunes, while the masters of the hotel fill up our cups. And that continued to six thirty in the morning, in an atmosphere of charming cordiality as each person attested to the pleasure of seeing French cinema accomplish such a feat. Bernard Natan and Raymond Bernard were too surrounded for me to speak to them. Besides, what could I say to them that they haven’t already heard ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times that evening, which was the apotheosis of cinema and of Les Misérables. -Jean-Pierre Liausu

[krisis-krinein]

Lisez des pages de Finnegans Wake, sans chercher à comprendre – ça se lit. Ça se lit, mais comme me le faisait remarquer quelqu’un de mon voisinage, c’est parce qu’on sent présente la jouissance de celui qui a écrit ça.

[ao3feed--reylo]

Rêvasser

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/Omsbnil

by Eligrl77

France 1926. The great painter Claude Monet has died, leaving Rey Aubert a young, single servant girl with art in her blood and nowhere else to go. An unexpected opportunity sets her sights on Paris to find inspiration and family. Meet Jacques Bazin. The wayward son of a politician, an established artist in his own write, and student at the Art School of Ren. His art is as controversial as his behavior. He has completely embraced the modern art world. He has no idea his world is about to be turned completely upside down.

Words: 70, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars Original Trilogy

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Rey (Star Wars), Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Finn (Star Wars), Rose Tico, Claude Monet, more tbd - Character, Han Solo, Leia Organa

Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren

Additional Tags: France (Country), Alternate Universe - 1920s, Painting, Art, Enemies to Lovers

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/Omsbnil

[xoxogossiphobbit]

Bouchardon, Edmé

Second book of various figures of academies drawn after the natural Oblong folio (25 x 37 cm), suite of 8 (out of 12) prints engraved by Jean Aubert, Aveline (junior) and Perreneau. Naked men and naked women. Poor condition: stains, horns... Drawings by the famous sculptor Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762), this rare title is unknown in Cicognara and Berlin Katalog Paris chez Huquier, rue St Jacques [after 1738]

[x]

[plaques-memoire]

Billet spécial n°1 - Les hôtels particuliers de l'île Saint-Louis

Pour célébrer la rédaction du 100ème billet du blog "Plaques Mémoire", j'ai souhaité présenter un format un peu plus libre que les autres publications, en présentant une série de petites plaques commémoratives situées à proximité les unes des autres, sur l'île Saint-Louis, à Paris (75004), et qui évoquent les noms de nombreuses personnalités de l'époque.

L'île Saint-Louis (anciennement île Notre-Dame) est une île située sur la Seine, dans le quatrième arrondissement de Paris. Structurée autour de la rue Saint-Louis en l'île qui la traverse de part en part, elle a fait l'objet d'une vaste opération d'urbanisme au XVIIème siècle et rassemble alors un très grand nombre d'hôtels particuliers qui lui valent le surnom d'"île des palais". Ces bâtiments, riches résidences passant aux mains de différentes familles aisées, connaîtront au fil des années des habitants prestigieux. Les photos montrées ici ne constituent pas une liste exhaustive des hôtels particuliers de l'île Saint-Louis, dont beaucoup ont été préservés et sont de remarquables monuments historiques cachés en plein cœur, comme l'hôtel de Lauzun (situé au 17 quai d'Anjou). Plusieurs de ces hôtels ont été conçus par l'architecte Louis Le Vau (1612-1670), d'ailleurs mentionné sur certaines des plaques commémoratives présentées ici.

11 quai de Bourbon. Texte de la plaque : 1643. Demeure de Philippe de Champaigne, peintre et valet de chambre de la Reine mère.

13 quai de Bourbon. Texte de la plaque : En 1695, propriété de Louis Joseph de Playbault, seigneur de Villars, capitaine au régiment de la reine.

15 quai de Bourbon : Hôtel Le Charron (ou hôtel de Vitry). Texte de la plaque : Hôtel Le Charron. Contrôleur de l'extraordinaire des guerres en Picardie. Son petit neveu J.J. Charron, marquis de Menars, est beau-frère de Colbert. Le peintre Émile Bernard y a résidé.

31 quai de Bourbon. Texte de la plaque : Emplacement de la propriété du fils de Théophraste Renaudot, médecin de Louis XIII, commissaire général des pauvres, fondateur du journalisme. L'écrivain Charles-Louis Philippe y a résidé.

18-20 quai d'Orléans : Hôtel Rolland. Texte de la plaque : Hôtel Rolland. En 1775 propriété de Étienne Françis Turgot, marquis de Soumont, gouverneur de Cayenne et de la Guyanne

16 quai de Béthune. Texte de la plaque : Construit en 1647. En 1728 très haute et très puissante dame Marguerite Thérèse Rouillé, princesse de Poix, veuve de très haut et très puissant seigneur Monseigneur Armand Jean Duplessis, duc de Richelieu et de Fronsac, pair de France, chevalier des ordres du Roy, lègue cet hôtel à son beau-fils LF Armand de Vignerod, futur maréchal de Richelieu

28 quai de Béthune : Hôtel Aubert-Perrot. Texte de la plaque : 1640. Maison de M. Aubert, contrôleur des rentes de l'Hôtel de ville. Façade du XVIIIème siècle

5 quai d'Anjou. Texte de la plaque : Petit hôtel de Marigny, élevé en 1640. Habité par Rennequin, créateur de la Machine de Marly

7 quai d'Anjou. Texte de la plaque : 1642 Hôtel construit pour Jacques Brebart Marchand de Fer. Siège de la Corporation des Maîtres Boulangers depuis 1843. Le bâtiment abrite encore aujourd'hui les locaux du Syndicat des Boulangers du Grand Paris.

11 quai d'Anjou. Texte de la plaque : Construit vers 1645 pour Nicolas Lambert de Thorigny. Louis Le Vau architecte. Acquis en 1945 par Henri Digard.

15 quai d'Anjou. Texte de la plaque : Vers 1645 hôtel construit pour Nicolas Lambert de Thorigny, président a la Chambre des Comptes. Louis Le Vau, architecte présumé.

23 quai d'Anjou. Textes des plaques : Hôtel ci-devant du Président Perrot et En 1642 ici demeura le Sieur Gabriel Sionite, Maronite du Liban, professeur d'arabe au Collège de France

27 quai d'Anjou. Texte de la plaque : 1644. Sur l'emplacement acheté en 1621 par Salomon de Caux, architecte du roi Louis XIII, Simon le Bossu, Maitre des Comptes, construit cet hôtel où vécut en 1691 Nicolas II Sainctôt, Introducteur des Ambassadeurs

33 quai d'Anjou. Texte de la plaque : 1640. Maison de Marin Le Roy, Sieur de Gomberville, titulaire du 21e fauteuil à la Fondation de l'Académie française

38 rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Île. Texte de la plaque : En 1775, Gilles Gomin maître tapissier acquiert de très haute et très puissante dame Madame Isabelle Louise Juvénal de Harville des Ursins de Tresnel, marquise de la Chastre

19 rue des Deux Ponts. Texte de la plaque : Maison de l'Image Saint-Louis. Abrite en 1642 le tavernier Framery, en 1742 le notaire Deshayes

9 rue Poulletier: Hôtel de Gillier. Texte de la plaque : Hôtel de Gillier. Construit de 1637 à 1640 par Louis Le Vau, père et fils, pour Melchior de Gillier, seigneur de Lagny, conseiller du roy Louis XIII

6 rue de Bretonvilliers : Hôtel de Bretonvilliers. Textes des plaques : Petit hôtel Bretonvilliers, 1639 et Pavillon de l'ancien hôtel de Bretonvilliers attribué à jean 1° Androuet du Cerceau, 1642

[entomoblog]

28 espèces de Diplopodes et 30 d'Isopodes ont été inventoriées dans le Parc national des Écrins, soit respectivement 9 et 14 % de la faune connue en France métropolitaine

See on Scoop.it - EntomoNews

Les inventaires sur les Isopodes et Diplopodes du Parc national des Écrins (PNE) font l’objet d’une synthèse commentée, portant à la fois sur une analyse bibliographique (missions d’inventaire de 1976 à 1979) et sur des prospections inédites récentes. Cette synthèse porte ainsi sur 1105 données (414 concernant les Isopodes, 691 pour les Diplopodes) couvrant la presque-totalité du territoire du Parc national. Les moyens d’inventaire mis en œuvre témoignent, au travers de la courbe d’accumulation des espèces (SAC), d’une bonne complétude de la connaissance sur les espèces présentes au sein du territoire.

  Synthèse des connaissances sur les Isopodes et Diplopodes terrestres du Parc national des Écrins (SE France) - Publications scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris

  Franck NOËL, Damien COMBRISSON, Jean-Jacques GEOFFROY & Marie-Geneviève NICOLAS Publié le 06 décembre 2023

  "La richesse spécifique observée est de 58 espèces (28 Diplopodes et 30 Isopodes), représentant respectivement 9 et 14 % de la faune connue en France métropolitaine. L’analyse spatiale de la pression d’observation fait apparaître des lacunes sur les secteurs de moyenne altitude, potentiellement moins intéressants pour le naturaliste (secteurs de vallées, plus anthropisés) mais pouvant receler des espèces de plaine, davantage sensibles aux paramètres liés à l’altitude qui prévalent au cœur du PNE.

  La patrimonialité de chacune des espèces recensées est évaluée, afin d’établir un lien opérationnel entre la connaissance taxonomique et la prise en compte des enjeux de conservation des Diplopodes et Isopodes terrestres. Ainsi, le PNE présente une responsabilité en termes de conservation concernant plusieurs taxons, pour partie liés à l’étage alpin, dont trois Isopodes (Tendosphaera verrucosa Verhoeff, 1930, Porcellio aff. spinipennis Budde-Lund, 1885 et Porcellio provincialis Aubert & Dollfus, 1890) et quatre Diplopodes (Janetschekella valesiaca (Faës, 1902), Leptoiulus helveticus (Verhoeff, 1894), Nanogona uncinata (Ribaut, 1913) et Craspedosoma taurinorum Silvestri, 1898). C’est le cas notamment de Janetschekella valesiaca, espèce alpine stricte et nivale, qui pourrait être menacée par le réchauffement climatique à moyen terme. D’autres espèces telles que Nanogona uncinata (endémique, connue seulement des départements de la Drôme, des Hautes-Alpes et de l’Isère) ou Tendosphaera verrucosa, espèce localisée en France, dont le nombre de stations connues au sein du Parc national est remarquable, présentent également un intérêt local élevé en terme de conservation.

  Les prospections récentes ont également permis de compléter les connaissances biogéographiques pour plusieurs espèces, avec notamment la découverte au sein du Parc national de Porcellio provincialis, espèce endémique connue de très peu de stations en France."

  fr Naturae 2023 (9) - Pages 151-170

  [Image] Le Julidae Cylindroiulus broti (Humbert, 1893) (corps annelé, tête et partie anale de couleur orangée) et l’Isopode Oniscus asellus Linnaeus, 1758 (deux individus adultes) sont fréquemment observés ensemble dans les forêts de moyenne altitude où ils participent à la fragmentation de la matière  organique.

[byneddiedingo]

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953)

Cast: Jacques Tati, Natalie Pascaud, Micheline Rolla, Valentine Camax, Lucien Frégis, Raymond Carl. Screenplay: Pierre Aubert, Jacques Lagrange, Henri Marquet, Jacques Tati. Cinematography: Jacques Mercanton, Jean Mousselle. Music: Alain Romans One of the delights of Monsieur Hulot's Holiday is that Hulot himself is part of an ensemble. It's not just a showcase for Jacques Tati's gifts as a physical comedian. While Hulot is the presumed focus of the movie, with his stiff-legged bouncing gait and his pipe-forward ambling, the world around him is as sweetly eccentric as he is. From the opening scenes with the holiday-bound crowds rushing from one railway platform to the other, confused by the comically garbled announcements, to the sardine-packed bus whose driver discovers a small boy thrusting his head up between the spokes of the steering wheel, Tati the director swiftly establishes the satiric thrust of the film: the bourgeoisie determined to have fun even if it kills them. Monsieur Hulot's Holiday is not gut-bustingly funny. Instead it's an assemblage of drolleries: slapstick moments like Hulot getting shut up in a folding canoe and being mistaken for a shark, mixed with smile-inducing bits like the strolling couple, she cheerfully leading him on excursions he clearly doesn't enjoy, as when she delightedly picks up shells, cooing over their beauty, which he tosses away once her back is turned. All of it is sweetened by a skillfully crafted soundtrack, from Hulot's wheezing and rattling auto to the irruptions of radio broadcasts in the hotel to the poink of the swinging door at the entrance to the dining room. I happen to think that the restored 114-minute version, assembled by Tati before his death, may be a bit too long, but there are many who can't get too much Hulot.

[lesser-known-composers]

Jacques Aubert (1689–1753) : Concerto in D major for Violin, Strings & B.c Op.26 No.3

[00:00] I. Allegro [04:01] II. Aria. Gracioso [06:23] III. Ciaconna

Ensemble Diderot : Johannes Pramsohler, violin

[gasparodasalo]

Jacques Aubert (1689-1753) - Concerto for 4 Violins and Basso continuo in g-minor, Op. 17 No. 6, III. Allegro. Performed by Les Cyclopes on period instruments.

[jbgravereaux]

Avec Luc Bérimont, 4/4 (extrait)

Jacques Layani, Léo Ferré études et propos : ...Il est d’autres enregistrements (sur des textes de Luc Bérimont), comme celui de Quand tes cheveux étaient courts par Michel Aubert ou celui de La Complainte du bourreau par Jacques Douai, sur une musique du même...                        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTlDaUzmB4A                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbXIVuSdo0Q        http://leoferre.hautetfort.com/archive/2006/11/21/avec-luc-berimont-4-4.html

[logonda]

Krimiautoren

Brigitte AubertCharlotte MacLeodJack BaileyJacques BerndorfJanet EvanovichJanwillem van de WeteringKathy ReichsRobert CullenNele NeuhausMarianne MacdonaldLia MateraAndrej KurkowAgatha ChristieAnthony BerkeleyCharlotte ArmstrongCyril HareDashiell HammettFreeman Wills CroftsEdgar Allan PoeE. C. BentleyDorothy SayersG. K. ChestertonH. S. HarrisonJ. D. BeresfordMary HottingerMilward KennedyRaymond…

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

Robespierre family timeline

Below is a timeline over the life of Robespierre’s closest relatives between the marriage of his parents up until their deaths because people seemed to drop like flies around him his entire childhood and I felt the need to put some things in order. Most of it is based on information found in La famille de Robespierre et ses origines. Documents inédits sur le séjour des Robespierre à Vaudricourt, Béthune, Harnes, Hénin-Liétard, Carvin et Arras. (1452-1790) (1914) by A. Lavoine, La Jeunesse de Robespierre et la convocation des Etats génétaux en Artois (1870) by J.-A. Paris, Robespierre: a revolutionary life (2010) by Peter McPhee, Robespierre (2014) by Hervé Leuwers, as well as this family tree that I found. If I’m basing something below on anything that’s not in one of these sources, I will include a link to it.

January 2 1758 - The marriage contract between Maximilien Barthélémy François de Robespierre (born 1732, from here on called Maximilien II) [1] and Jacqueline Marguerite Carraut (born 1735) is passed before M. Crépieux and M. Botte, notaries, M. Corroyer, prosecutor, as well as Jacqueline’s mother Marie-Marguerite Carraut (born 1693, née Cornu), father Jacques-François Carraut (born 1701) and younger brother Augustin-Isidore Carraut (born 1737). Maximilien II’s parents Maximilien de Robespierre (born 1694, from now on called Maximilien I) and Marie-Marguerite Françoise de Robespierre (born 1708, née Poiteau) are not present. [2]

January 3 1763 - wedding ceremony between Maximilien II and Jacqueline de Robespierre in the church of Saint-Jean-en-Ronville. Their witnesses are M. Monvoisin, practitioner, M. Corroyer, prosecutor, M. Botte, notary, Jacques-François Carraut and Augustin Carraut.

May 6 1758 - birth of Maximilien Marie Isidore de Robespierre (from here on called Maximilien III). He is baptised in the parish of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine in Arras the same day, with his paternal grandfather standing as godfather and maternal grandmother standing as godmother. [3]

February 5 1760 - birth of Marie Marguerite Charlotte de Robespierre. She is baptisted in the parish of Saint-Étienne in Arras three days later. Her godparents are Gouve Charles-Antoine, King's adviser and prosecutor of the town and city of Arras, subdelegate of the intendant of Flanders and Artois, and Marie-Dominique Poiteau, widow Isambart. [4]

13 January 1761 - marriage between maternal uncle Augustin Isodore Carraut and Catherine Sabine Desplanque (born 1740) in Magnicourt-sur-Canche, Pas-de-Calais. They have five children together, Augustin Louis Joseph (1762), Antoine Philippe (1763 or 1764-1837), Marié Célestine (born 1767 and dead on the same day), Jean-Baptiste Guislain (1768-1797) and Sabine Josephe (1771-1860). [5] The second oldest, Antoine Philippe, will come to play a role in the repression of Arras carried out under Joseph Lebon 1793-1794.

December 28 1761 - Birth of Henriette Eulalie Françoise de Robespierre. She is baptised in the parish of Saint-Étienne in Arras the same day. Her maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother stand as godparents. [6]

April 17 1762 - death of Maximilien I, at the age of 67. He’s buried in the church of Saint-Aubert two days later. The death certificate is signed by his son and Pierre-Grégoire-Marie Enlart, squire, lord of Grandval, adviser to the Provincial Council and Superior of Artois. His widow then retires to the Convent of the Benedictines of the Peace of Arras.

January 21 1763 - birth of Augustin Bon Joseph de Robespierre. He is baptised in the parish of Saint-Étienne in Arras the day after his birth, with his godfather being his maternal uncle Augustin Carraut and godmother the paternal aunt Marie-Marguerite Alexandrine Eléonore Eulalie de Robespierre (born 1736). [7]

July 4 1764 - Jacqueline de Robespierre gives birth to a boy who dies the same day. He is buried in the Saint-Nicaise cemetery, without having received a name. According to Charlotte’s memoirs, Augustin was still with a wetnurse when this happened.

July 16 1764 - death of Jacqueline de Robespierre, a few days before her twenty-ninth birthday. Her funeral is held in the parish of Saint-Aubert the following day. The mortuary act is signed by her brother and Antoine-Henri Galbaut, Knight of Saint-Louis, assistant major of the Citadel. Her husband doesn’t sign it, nor does he attend her funeral. [8]

August 6 1764 - Maximilien II retakes his duties as lawyer at Arras after having spent a few weeks without doing any business. He wins and loses a case that day.

November 16 1764 - the name of Maximilien II ceases to appear on the court register of the Council of Artois.

January 7 1765 - Maximilien II is received as a lawyer at the court of Oisy, about 20 kilometers from Arras, after having been called on by Eustache-Joseph d'Assignies, count of Oisy, to take a prestigious seat there, "on the express condition of taking up residence in said Oisy and not being able to demand from us any sums for fees in criminal cases” eight days earlier. By then, his four children have been dispersed among relatives, Charlotte and Henriette are taken care of by their unmarried paternal aunts Eulalie (born 1735) and Henriette (or are they? [9]), while Maximilien III and Augustin are sent to live with their maternal grandparents. [10] Maximilian II will not retain his functions at Oisy forever however, as the same manuscript which contains his commission also registrates the appointment of his replacement for July 15 1765.

March 13 1765 - Maximilien II is back in Arras (four months before his position at Oisy expires) pleading a case, which carries on all the way into December of the same year. [11]

March 22 1766 - Maximilian II borrows seven hundred livres from his sister Henriette. It would appear he never paid them back, which led to some tension between Henriette, her husband and Maximilien III in 1780. [12]

1766 - Maximilien III is enrolled at the Collège of Arras as a day-student.

October 30 1768 - Maximilien II resigns from any inheritance whatsoever from his mother. [13]

December 30 1768 - Charlotte de Robespierre is enrolled at Maison des Sœurs Manarre, “a pious foundation for poor girls, who may be admitted from the age of nine to eighteen, to be fed, brought up under some good mistress of virtue and to improve oneself in lacing and sewing or in another thing which one will judge useful; to learn to read and write until they are able to serve and earn a living." It is situated just across the border in Tournai (modern-day Belgium). Charlotte is actually a few months too young to actually be enrolled, but an exception seems to be made in her case. According to La famille de Robespierre et ses origines…, it was Charlotte’s godfather Charles-Antoine de Gouve that had enough influence to obtain this favour for her.

September 13 1769 - Maximilien III obtains a scholarship from the abbot of Saint-Vaast to the college of Louis-le-Grand in Paris.

October 13 1769 - Maximilien III is enrolled at Louis-le-Grand.

May 17 1770 - death of Marie-Marguerite Françoise de Robespierre, aged 62. She is buried in the church of Saint-Aubert two days later in the presence of of M. Sébastien-Fidel de Douay, de Baisne, priest, law graduate, and Antoine de Gouve, bourgeois annuitant witnesses. The death certificate is signed by the two latter.

June 8, 1770 - Maximilien II confirms his resignation from the inheritance of his mother, after being informed about her death by his sisters. He is then in Mannheim, Germany. [14]

May 3 1771 - Henriette de Robespierre is sent to join her sister at Maison des Sœurs Manarre, where she stays as a boarder while waiting for a scholarship to become vacant.

October 3 1771 - Maximilien II, back in Arras, affirms he doesn’t want any of his mother’s inheritance yet again. [15]

February 17 1772 - the name of Maximilien II reappears on the court register of the Council of Artois.

June 4 1772 - the name of Maximilien II ceases to appear on the court register of the Council of Artois. There’s no sign of his activities in the town after this.

June 4 1773 - Henriette de Robespierre becomes a scholarship student at Maison des Sœurs Manarre. [16]

June 13 1775 - Death of Marie Marguerite Carraut, aged 83.

January 7 1776 - Marriage between Eulalie de Robespierre and Robert-François Deshorties, merchant and royal notary in Arras. [17]

February 11 1777 - Marrige between Amable Aldegonde Henriette de Robespierre and Gabriel-François Durut, student in Montpellier, doctor of medicine in Arras, doctor at the College d’Oratoire. Their marriage, as well as the one between Eulalie and Deshorties, appears to have been childless, making the Robespierre siblings cousin-less on their father’s side.

November 6 1777 - Maximilien II is buried in Munich, aged 45. His children most likely didn’t find out about his death.

March 14 1778 - death of Jacques François Carraut, aged 77. He’s buried two days later in the parish of Saint-Jean-en-Ronville in Arras. His brewery is sold to his son Augustin for a total of 8242 livres, of which only half goes to the four orphans.

March 5 1780 - Henriette de Robespierre is buried. Her uncle Augustin Carraut and the canon Poulain are the only ones present at her funeral.

May 15 1781 - Maximilien III graduates from Louis-le-Grand and returns to Arras to work as a lawyer. He and Charlotte move into a house on Rue du Saumon.

October 11 1781 - Augustin gains a scholarship to Louis-le-Grand. He begins his studies there on November 3 the same year. All sources I’ve found agree that Augustin was studying at the College of Duoai before getting sent to Paris, but unfortunately none of them mention when exactly he was enrolled there.

Late 1782 - Maximilien II and Charlotte are forced to leave Rue du Saumon when the latter realizes his lawyer salary can’t cover the rent. They instead move in with their aunt Henriette and her husband Durut on Rue Teinturiers, and evantually from there to Rue des Jésuites.

1787 - Maximilien II and Charlotte move to Rue des Rapporteurs 9.

September 30 1787 - Augustin graduates from Louis-le-Grand and moves in with his siblings.

April 17 1791 - death of Amable Aldegonde Henriette de Robespierre in Arras, aged 55.

September 3 1791 - death of Eulalie de Robespierre in Arras, aged 54.

December 6 1792 - death of Robert-François Deshorties in Arras.

November 17 1815 - death of Augustin Carraut in Arras, Pas-de-Calais, aged 78.

Rue du Puits Saint-Josse, where Maximilien I lived at the time of his death in 1762     

Rue des Jésuites  (today Rue du Collége) where the Robespierres lived by the time of Augustin’s birth in 1763. The family moved around a lot, in four years it changed residence four times and lived successively in the parishes of St-Géry, Ste-Marie Madeleine, St-Etienne and St-Aubert. Amable-Aldegonde-Henriette de Robespierre’s husband Durut also became tenant of a house on this road in 1783, for an annual rent of 300 livres.     

Rue Ronville, where Jacques-François Carraut had his brewery, and where Maximilien III and Augustin moved in 1764.     

Rue des Teinturiers, where Amable-Aldegonde-Henriette de Robespierre and her husband Durut lived before 1783. This is likely the place where Henriette de Robespierre passed away in 1780. Maximilien III and Charlotte took up lodgings there in late 1782, after the former realized he could not afford to pay their rent.     

Rue du Saumon, where Maximilien III and Charlotte rented a recidence before moving in with their aunt and uncle in 1782. When Maximilien’s income increased, they moved again, to Rue des Jésuites this time.        

Rue des Rapporteurs (today Rue Maximilien Robespierre), where Maximilien III and Charlotte moved in 1787. They were soon joined by Augustin.

[1] There is some controversy regarding Robespierre’s father’s actual firstname, since there exists one document describing him as Barthélémy-François, and another one as just Barthélémy (although ironically, it’s more common among authors to call him François and not Barthélémy). Historian Hervé Leuwers still insists that his real firstname seems to be Maximilien, as it’s what his contemporary Abbé Proyart calls him in his La Vie et les Crimes de Robespierre: surnommé le tyran: depuis sa naissance jusqu’au sa mort (1795), as well as the only name indicating his inhumation in 1777.

[2] ”As for the the groom, M. Corroyer, in his capacity, has promised to give him the sum of two thousand livres, either in money or in constituted annuities, as soon as the marriage has been celebrated... As for the the bride, her father and mother have promised to give her a sum of five thousand livres payable, namely: two thousand livres immediately after the celebration of the marriage, one thousand livres one year after said celebration and thus continue on with one thousand livres per year until the final payment of the said sum of five thousand livres. The marriage was celebrated in the presence of Jacques Francois Carraut; Monvoisin, practitioner; Corroyer, attorney; Botte, notary, and Carraut the younger.” Wedding contract from January 2 1758, cited in La Jeunesse de Robespierre…, page 13

[3] ”The sixth of May, 1758 was baptized by me the undersigned Maximilien-Marie-Isidore, born the same day at two o'clock in the morning in the legitimate marriage of M. Maximilien-Barthélemy-François Derobespierre, lawyer at the Council of Artois , and demoiselle Jacqueline Carraut. The godfather was M. Maximilien Derobespierre, grandfather on the paternal side, lawyer at the Council of Artois, and the godmother, demoiselle Marie-Margueritte Cornu, wife of Jacques-François Carraut, grandmother on the maternal side. These have signed. Derobespierre. Marie-Marguerite Cornu. Derobespierre. Lenglade, priest.” Cited in Robespierre et les femmes, d’apres des documents inédits et des pieces inédits (1909) by A. Michel, page 20

[4] ”Today is the eighth day of the month of February, the year 1760. We priests of the parish of Saint-Étienne of towns and Diocese of Arras, have supplemented the ceremonies of the baptism for a girl born around half past two in the afternoon in said parish in the legitimite marriage of maître Maximilien-Barthélemy-François de Robespierre, lawyer at the Provincial Council of Artois, and of demoiselle Jacqueline-Margueritte Carraut, her father and mother; she was delivered by us parish priest the day after her birth, six of the same month and year as above, with the permission of the bishopric dated the same day signed by Le Roux, vicar general, and below, by ordinance Péchena. The godfather was master Charles-Antoine de Gouve, adviser to the King and his attorney for the town and city of Arras, subdelegate of the intendant of Flanders and Artois, in the department of Arras, of the parish of Saint-Jean in Ronville, and the godmother demoiselle Marie-Dominique Poiteau, widow of Sieur François Isambart, procurator to the said provincial council of Artois, of the parish of Saint-Aubert, who gave her the name Marie-Marguerite-Charlotte, and who signed with us the parish priest, and the father here present, the same act on the day and year mentioned above. The child was born on the fifth. Marie Dominique Poiteau     De Gouve Derobespibrre     Willart, parish priest of Saint-Etienne.” Cited in Ibid, page 323-324

[5] I had a hard time finding any reliable info regarding dates of birth (and death) for Robespierre’s five cousins. I found one article from 1991 about them as well as one on WikiTree, however, the two give different dates of birth for some of the children.

[6] “Today, the twenty-eighth day of the month of December, 1761, we priests of the parish of Saint-Étienne, of the town and diocese of Arras, have baptized a girl born on the same day in this parish of Saint-Étienne around six o'clock in the morning in the legitimate marriage of Maître Maximilien-Barthélemy-François de Robespierre, lawyer at the Provincial Council of Artois, and demoiselle Jacqueline-Marguerite Carrant, her father and mother our parishioners. The godfather was sieur Jacques-François Carraut, wholesale merchant brewer of the parish of Saint-Jean en Ronville, maternal grandfather to the child and the godmother demoiselle Marie-Marguerite-Françoise Poiteau, wife of master Maximilien de Robespierre, lawyer at said Provincial and Superior Council of Artois, of the parish of Saint-Aubert, paternal grandfather to said child, who gave her the name Henriette-Eulalie-Françoise and who signed with us parish priest, the same act as well as the father here present at said Arras on the aforesaid day, month and year. Jacque (sic) François Carraut Poiteau de Robespierre Derobespierre Willart, curé de Saint-Eteinne”    Cited in Robespierre et les femmes… (1909), page 326-327

[7] ”Today, the twenty-second day of the month of January of the year 1763, we priest of the parish of Saint-Étienne des Villes and diocese of Arras have baptized a boy born the day before, about two o'clock in the afternoon, the twenty-first of the same month and year, on this said parish in the legitimate marriage of master Maximilien-Barthélemy-François de Robespierre, lawyer at the Provincial Council of Artois and demoiselle Jacqueline-Margueritte Carraut, his father and mother our parishioners. The godfather was Augustin-Isidore Carraut, merchant of the parish of Saint-Jean en Ronville, maternal uncle of the child, and the godmother demoiselle Margueritte-Alexandrine-Éleonore-Eulalie de Robespierre of the parish of Saint-Aubert, paternal aunt of said child, who gave him the name Augustin-Bon-Joseph and who signed the same act with us as priest as well as the father here present on the days, months and year mentioned above. Carraut Eulalie de Robespierre    Derobespierre Willart, curé de Saint-Eteinne” Cited in Ibid, page 327-328

[8] ”Demoiselle Marguerite-Jacqueline Carraut, aged twenty-nine or thereabouts, wife of M. Maximilien-Barthélemy-François Derobespierre, lawyer at the Provincial and Superior Council of Artois, died on the sixteenth of July in the year 1764; the service was held on the seventeenth, followed by her burial in this church, those present were the sieurs Antoine-Henry-Galhaut, knight of the royal and military order of Saint-Louis, aide-major by patent of the citadel of Arras, and Auguste-Isidore Carraut, brother of the deceased, who signed with us as parish priest. Galhaut. De Lacroix, priest Carraut.” Cited in Ibid, page 323-324

[9] According to La famille de Robespierre et ses origines. Documents inédits sur le séjour des Robespierre à Vaudricourt, Béthune, Harnes, Hénin-Liétard, Carvin et Arras. (1452-1790) the paternal aunts Eulalie and Henriette retired to Convent of the Benedictines of the Peace of Arras with their mother when the latter was widowed in 1762, where they would not have been able to provide for their nieces. The article instead implies all four children were taken in by their maternal grandparents, which it also uses to explain why Charlotte was enrolled at Maison des Sœurs Manarre despite being a few months too young to actually be admitted, and why Henriette was enrolled without having a scholarship — their grandparents simply had to quickly send them away since they couldn’t provide for all children. However, it doesn’t cite a source for the aunts’ alleged move, and both Leuwers and McPhee list the article as one of their sources while still writing Charlotte and Henriette went to live with their aunts, so I’m not sure about this.

[10] In his biography, Peter McPhee claims Maximilien III was also looked after by two maternal aunts. However, I’ve not managed to track down any information whatsoever on these, and the few Carraut family trees I’ve found only mention Jacqueline, Augustin and a third brother named Jean-Baptiste who probably died young since more or less no info exists regarding him. Worth noting is also that Mcphee says the maternal aunts were called Eulalie and Henriette, which were the names of the paternal aunts as well… This confusion is most likely a result of poor choice of wording by Abbé Proyart in his La Vie et les Crimes de Robespierre: surnommé le tyran: depuis sa naissance jusqu’au sa mort (1795) — ”Not being heir to any patrimony, he (Robespierre) had no resources for his subsistence except those which could be procured for him by the honest brawler Carreau (sic), his grandfather, and the charity of good people, which were quite efficiently encouraged by two aunts of the same name, who lived in a great reputation for piety.” Proyart most likely means the aunts were of the same name as Robespierre and not his grandfather, which is supported by the fact that he then claims one of them married a doctor, just like Eulalie de Robespierre did.

[11] On December 9 the same year, Maximilien II wrote a a letter to his fellow lawyer Maximilien Baudelot, in which he identified himself as a lawyer of Arras while trying to get them to all come together and publicy plead for the betterment of the the dauphin, who died eleven days later. This confirms he was still active in Arras at this point.

[12] ”Hearing of April 4, 1780: M. Corne, for François-Gabriel Durut, doctor of medicine, and Amélie-Aldegonde-Henriette Derobespierre, his wife; Against François-Maximilien-Barthelemy de Robespierre; Gentlemen give default against François-Maximilien Robespierre and for the benefit, hold the signature affixed by the defaulting party at the bottom of a recognition of March 22 1766 which it is about for recognized; Consequently, we condemn said defaulting party to pay to the parties of the attorney Corne, for one part, the sum of seven hundred and eleven livres ten sols, centenary in said recognition, and for another part, the sum of one hundred livres paid in his acquittal to the notary Husson, for pension provided to him according to the receipt of March 14, 1772 and in question, in the interest of the sums quoted from the day of the judicial demand and at the costs, liquidated at fifteen livres eighteen sols eight denarii.” Cited in Mémoires de l’Académie des sciences, lettres et arts d’Arras, series 11, volume 3, page 56-57.

[13] ”I, the undersigned, lawyer at the Provincial Council of Artois, renounce, for the benefit of my sisters, my rights and shares in the movable and immovable estates of my mother, acknowledging that I have received from said mother beyond the share that I could claim, both for me and for my children. Written at Arras, the thirtieth day of October, 1768 (Signed): DEROBESPIERRE” Cited in La famille de Robespierre et ses origines. Documents inédits sur le séjour des Robespierre à Vaudricourt, Béthune, Harnes, Hénin-Liétard, Carvin et Arras. (1452-1790)

[14] ”I, the undersigned, lawyer at the Provincial Council of Artois, hereby renounce for the benefit of my sisters all rights and shares in the movable and immovable estates of my late mother, acknowledging that I have received from said mother beyond the share that I could claim, both for me and for my children. Written at Mannheim, June 8, 1770” Cited in Ibid

[15] ”Before the undersigned royal notaries of Artois appeared M. Maximilien-Barthélemy-François de Robespierre, lawyer at the Superior Council of Arras, residing in said Arras. Who recognized that, by an act made under his private signature, in the city ​​of Mannheim, on the eighth day of June 1770, he declared that he renounced the movable and immovable successions of lady Marie-Marguerite-Françoise Poiteau, his mother, at the time of her death widow of M. Maximilien de Robespierre, lawyer at the Council of Artois. But, having since considered that this renunciation could not have its effect, considering that at that time, he did not have full and complete knowledge of the forces of said succession and that, since his return to this town, three months ago, he has taken perfect knowledge of said estates by inspecting the letters and papers abandoned by said mother, which Marie-Marguerite-Alexandrine-Eléonore-Eulalie and Amable-Aldegonde-Henriette de Robespierre, his sisters, represented and entrusted to him. This is why said sieur appearing has, hereby, declared to renounce said successions and to claim nothing hereunder, giving power to the bearer of the bulk hereof to reiterate where and to whom it will belong. And just now said ladies Marie-Marguerite-Alexandre-Eléonore-Eulalie and Aimable-Aldegonde-Henriette de Robespierre have appered; these have recognized that said sieur de Robespierre, their brother, has given them the titles and papers mentioned herein. Passed in Arras, the third of October, 1771. (Signed): de ROBESPIERRE; de ROBESPIERRE, the older; de ROBESPIERRE, the younger, (and as notaries): MERCHIER, HUSSON.  Cited in Ibid

[16] “To Messeigneurs, Messeigneurs the Treasurer-General, Councilors and Clerks of the Estates and Finances of H. M. the Dowager Empress and Apostolic Queen of Hungary, Bohemia, etc. Begs in very deep respect Henriette-Josephe de Robespierre, native of the town of Arras, ten years old, saying that, in the hope of being received in the foundation of the demoiselles Manarre, in the town of Tournay, like her sister was, she would have boarded there from the month of May 1771 and remained there until now, and done all the duties to which are held those provided with this foundation to the satisfaction of the superiors. However, although there is a place which must be vacant towards the month of July this year, the Administrators of it are having difficulty in receiving it, obsanting certain regulations by which it would be said that there would only be the subjects of your Sacred Majesty who would be admitted there; but, as it does not present itself up to now, and that that which must leave there is also a foreign subject who was received there; she takes the very respectful liberty of addressing Your illustrious Lordships, My Lords, for your pleasure, taking favorable account of the pension expenses which she has paid since said day, May 3, 1771, and of the useful and advantageous qualities which she possesses for the good of the house, permit the Administrators to there receive the supplicant with the ordinary charges. It's grace... , etc.”  Cited in La Jeunesse de Robespierre, page 19

[17] Deshorties was the widower of Marie-Jeanne Langlet, with who he had two sons and three daughers. According to Charlotte, Maximilien III had been courting one of these daughters, Anaïs, for two to three years at the time of the Estates General, and there were marriage plans between the two.These were however broken up by the revolution and Anaïs instead got engaged to another lawyer, Léandre Leducq, who she married on August 7 1792. Another one of the children was Régis Deshorties, who kept up contacts with the Robespierres during the revolution. Here is a letter from him to Augustin written on July 18 1794.

[focusmonumentum]

Musée Rodin de Paris

L'Hôtel de Biron et ses jardins servent d'écrin à la plupart des œuvres d'Auguste Rodin, sculpteur de génie, précurseur de l'art moderne, au renom non terni par les ans ni par l'évolution artistique contemporaine, preuve en est de ses 700000 visiteurs annuels (en moyenne, moins les années covidées), le plaçant a la septième position des musées les plus visités de France.

Ce riche hôtel particulier, l'un des premiers à être édifié au sein du faubourg Saint-Germain (zone alors déserte et marécageuse, ne serait-ce la présence de l'Hôtel des Invalides tout proche), fut conçu en 1728 par l'architecte Jean Aubert, d'après des plans dûs à Jacques V Gabriel, pour le compte du "nouveau riche" Abraham Peyrenc de Moras. La décoration intérieure fut confiée au peintre François Lemoyne, (dont des "dessus-de-portes" furent restitués au cours du XXème siècle, après dilapidation le siècle précédent...) Suite à la mort du marquis propriétaire, survenue ici-même en 1731, l'hôtel échoit à sa veuve, qui le loue dès 1736 à la Duchesse du Maine, Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon. Celle-ci y décède à son tour en 1753. Le futur acquéreur, Louis-Antoine de Gontau, duc de Biron, laissera son nom à l'hôtel. Il fit aménager les jardins dans le style anglo-chinois en 1781, via les cisailles du paysagiste Dominique-Madeleine Moisy. Après le décès du maréchal Biron en 1788, l'hôtel revient à son neveu, le duc de Charost, décédant lui-même en 1800. Sa veuve, après avoir loué l'hôtel au nonce du pape Pie VII puis à l'ambassade de Russie, le lègue finalement en 1820 à une congrégation religieuse, la Société du Sacré-Coeur de Jésus, vouée à l'éducation des jeunes filles issues de la haute bourgeoisie et de l'aristocratie. Un pensionnat (l'actuel Lycée Victor Duruy) est alors construit au sud des jardins, réaménagés à la française, ainsi qu'une chapelle (nous y reviendrons). Eugénie de Montijo, future impératrice par son union avec Napoléon III, y fera son éducation dans les années 1830, précédant Misia Sert, future modèle et muse de nombreux artistes de l'École de Paris, qui y sera également élève cinquante ans plus tard. Cela préfigure, par un curieux coup du hasard, de la vocation à venir de l'Hôtel Biron. En effet, la fameuse loi de séparation des Églises et de l'État, promulguée en 1905, chasse les religionnaires, rendant l'hôtel vacant. Devenu de fait propriété de l'État, il est divisé en plusieurs appartements, puis loué à des artistes, parmi lesquels Jean Cocteau, Henri Matisse, la chorégraphe et danseuse Isadora Duncan, le comédien Édouard de Max, l'écrivain-poète Rainer Maria Rilke... Alors secrétaire d'Auguste Rodin, celui-ci lui présente l'Hôtel Biron, dont quatre pièces demeurent disponibles en rez-de-jardin. Immédiatement conquis, le sculpteur, jouissant déjà d'une solide notoriété, y installe une partie de son atelier (son lieu de travail principal demeurant en sa Villa des Brillants, à Meudon). Il décide par la suite de faire de ses appartements un lieu d'exposition de sa collection personnelle d'antiquités et d'oeuvres d'art contemporaines, qu'il présente mêlées à ses propres productions; sculptures, certes, mais également peintures, dessins et photographies, à l'attention des journalistes, marchands d'art et collectionneurs, régulièrement invités par sa collaboratrice (et dernière maîtresse), la duchesse de Choiseul. À la fin de sa vie, Rodin, soutenu par de nombreuses personnalités telles que Raymond Poincaré, Georges Clémenceau et son ami impressionniste Claude Monet, souhaite léguer l'ensemble de ses œuvres à l'État, à la condition que celui-ci fasse de l'Hôtel Biron un musée. Après son décès, survenu en 1917, sa succession revient donc à l'état français, qui transforme bel et bien l'Hôtel Biron et son jardin en musée dédié à sa mémoire, ouvert dès 1919, au sortir de la Première Guerre Mondiale.

Le Musée Rodin a un statut particulier. Il est en effet le seul musée public à devoir s'autofinancer (via dotations et mécénat), afin de poursuivre sa mission de diffusion de l'oeuvre d'Auguste Rodin.

Après une longue campagne de travaux (de 2012 à 2015), partiellement financée par de généreux donateurs (dont le riche couple de mécènes américains Iris et B. Gérald Cantor), le Musée Rodin rouvre au public, entièrement rénové et mis aux normes de l'accueil des publics PMR et handicapés visuels, à la muséographie complètement repensée par l'architecte des monuments historiques Richard Duplat, aux murs des salles d'exposition repeints en une teinte spécialement créée pour mettre en valeur les marbres, le "Biron Gray"...

Présentant un parcours chronologique et thématique sur deux étages, il dédie une salle complète a l'œuvre de la géniale Camille Claudel, élève et muse (et maîtresse) de Rodin; une passion tumultueuse devenue légendaire, moulée dans les bronzes de L'Âge Mûr, La Vague et surtout La Valse... Outre Le Baiser, La Cathédrale et la Tempête, aux exécutions diversement opérées, de plâtre, de marbre ou de pierre, sont présentées dans le musée nombre de réductions et d'agrandissements, de fusions et imbrications, comme autant d'études et d'étapes ayant prefiguré les oeuvres finalisées du maître en sculpture, considérant l'inachevé comme achèvement.

Et pourtant, s'il est une œuvre de Rodin considérée comme aboutie, il s'agit bien de La Porte de l'Enfer, monumentale sculpture (au moulage original en plâtre exposé au Musée d'Orsay), fondue en bronze en 1937. Initialement commande publique en 1882, pour la porte d'entrée du Musée des Arts Décoratifs, abandonnée en 1889 faute de financements, inlassablement retravaillée jusqu'à la mort de l'artiste en 1917, elle inclue de nombreux éléments interdépendants de l'oeuvre du sculpteur, du Baiser à Ugolin dévorant ses enfants, de La Chute à la Danaïde... Couronnée par Les Trois Ombres, présentant la fameuse phrase ouvrant La Divine Comédie de Dante ("Toi qui entre ici, abandonne tout espoir"), s'en détache une figure méditative, au faîte du linteau, représentant le poète Dante Alighieri, méditant sur son œuvre. En sera issu Le Penseur, universellement reconnu comme la pièce maîtresse de Rodin, à l'agrandissement, également fondu en bronze, présenté dessous (ainsi qu'en la roseraie proche de l'entrée du musée), offert par souscription publique à la ville de Paris en 1906, d'abord installé place du Panthéon, avant d'être déplacé ici en 1922. En 2011, il fut commenté par Carla Bruni, travestie en guide-conférencière dans le film de Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris.

Le jardin du musée, d'une superficie de 3 hectares (équivalente à celle du jardin de l'Hôtel Matignon, réputé pour être le plus grand jardin privé de Paris) présente d'autres sculptures d'exception fondues en bronze, comme le Monument à Victor Hugo (finalement refusé par l'état), la statue à Balzac, ainsi que Les Bourgeois de Calais (commémorant un célèbre épisode d'amende honorable du début de la Guerre de Cent Ans), présentés près du mur d'enceinte du musée sur rue, ajourée par des panneaux de verre, permettant ainsi aux passants de la rue de Varenne de contempler ce groupe sculpté, ayant l'Hôtel Biron pour toile de fond.

Vestige restructuré de la résidence de la Société du Sacré-Coeur de Jésus en ce lieu, la chapelle néo-gothique, exécutée en 1876 par l'architecte Juste Lisch, à l'angle du Boulevard des Invalides et de la rue de Varenne, totalement réaménagée en 2005, accueille non seulement l'administration du musée, mais aussi la billetterie et la boutique, un auditorium en sous-sol, ainsi qu'une vaste salle consacrée aux expositions temporaires, comme celle de l'année passée, venant de s'achever, maintes fois reportée pour cause de financement puis de covid (...), croisant l'oeuvre de Rodin avec celle de Picasso, en collaboration avec le Musée Picasso de Paris (que nous visiterons un jour à venir...) 

Crédits : ALM’s