Émile Mâle (; 2 June 1862 – 6 October 1954) was a French art historian, one of the first to study

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

, mostly sacral French art and the influence of Eastern European

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

thereon. He was a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and a director of the Académie de France à Rome.

Biography

Mâle was born in Commentry, Auvergne. A pupil at the

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

, he received his degree in 1886. He taught rhetoric at Saint-Étienne, then at the University of Toulouse. He received his doctorate in 1899. Having taught a course in the history of Christian art at the Sorbonne since 1906, he held the chair in history of art there from 1912. He was the successor to Louis Duchesne as head of the French Academy in Rome, 1923–1937. Among Mâle's many contributions to the understanding of the art of bygone eras were his explanations of iconography and the use of allegory in religious art.Mâle, Émile, ''Religious Art from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century'', edited with new material by Mâle, The Noonday Press, New York, 1959 In particular, his doctoral thesis on the Gothic art of France (revised over three editions) ''L'Art religieux du XIIIe siècle en France'' (1899) translated into English as ''The Gothic Image: Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century'' from the third edition of 1910 (or omitting "The Gothic Image" from title, especially in the US) remains in print. He died in Fontaine-Chaalis,

Oise Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...

Honours

*Member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (1918) *Member of the Académie royale de Belgique *Member of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

*Member of the

*Grand officier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Works

*''Quomodo Sybillas recentiores artifices representaverint'' (1899) *''L'Art religieux du XIIIe siècle en France'' (1899) - doctoral thesis. Translated into English as ''The Gothic Image: Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century'' from 3rd edition of 1910, 1913, Dent & Co., London, Dover Books US (omitting "The Gothic Image" from title, still in print), and other editions. Translated into German by Lorenz Zuckermandel as ''Die kirchliche Kunst des XIII. Jahrhunderts in Frankreich: Studie über die Ikonographie des Mittelalters und ihre Quellen.'' Straßburg: Verlag J. H. Ed. Heitz, 1907. *''L'Art religieux de la fin du Moyen Âge en France'' (1908) also in English, Princeton 1986, ''Religious Art in France: The Late Middle Ages: A Study of Medieval Iconography and Its Sources'' () *''L'Art allemand et l'art français du Moyen Âge'' (1917) *''L'Art religieux du XIIe siècle en France'' (1922) also in English, Princeton 1978 *''Art et artistes du Moyen Âge'' (1927), also in English, Black Swan Books, 1986 ''Art and Artists of the Middle Ages'' () *''L'Art religieux après le Concile de Trente, étude sur l'iconographie de la fin du XVIe, du XVIIe et du XVIIIe siècles en Italie, en France, en Espagne et en Flandre'' (1932) *''Rome et ses vieilles églises'' (1942) trans. ''The Early Churches of Rome'', Ernest Benn Ltd., London 1960. *''Les Mosaïques chrétiennes primitives du IVe au VIIe siècle'' (1943) *''L'Art religieux du XIIe au XVIIIe siècle'' (1945) and English translation: ''Religious Art from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century'' () *''Jean Bourdichon: les Heures d'Anne de Bretagne à la Bibliothèque nationale'' (1946) *''Les Grandes Heures de Rohan'' (1947) *''Notre-Dame de Chartres'' (1948) also in English, ''Chartres'', Harper & Row, 1983 *''La Fin du paganisme en Gaule et les plus anciennes basiliques chrétiennes'' (1950) *''La Cathédrale d'Albi'' (1950) *''Histoire de l'art'' (2 volumes, 1950, editor) *''Les Saints Compagnons du Christ'' (1958, posthumous publication)

References

External links

Biography

The Gothic Cathedral
excerpts by Émile Mâle
Website of the Académie française

L'art religieux du XIIIe siècle en France (Google eBook)
1898 {{DEFAULTSORT:Male, Emile 1862 births 1954 deaths People from Allier Academic staff of the University of Paris French art historians French medievalists Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Académie Française French male non-fiction writers Members of the Institute for Catalan Studies Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Corresponding fellows of the British Academy

Biography

Honours

Works

References

Further reading

External links