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Arsène Vigeant (6 January 1844 - April 1916) was a French ''maître d'armes'' ( fencing master) and historian of fencing.
full text in French here
* ''Un maître d'armes sous la Restauration: petit essai historique'' (Paris, impr. de Motteroz, 1883) -
full text in French here
* ''L'Almanach de l'escrime'' (Paris, Maison Quantin, 1889)
full text in French here
Engraved portrait of Vigeant by Charles Baude
from Vigeant's 1889 ''L'Almanach de l'escrime''
Illustration by Frédéric Régamey showing Vigeant at home surrounded by his fencing collection
French fencers 1844 births 1916 deaths {{France-fencing-bio-stub
Arsène Vigeant (6 January 1844 - April 1916) was a French ''maître d'armes'' ( fencing master) and historian of fencing.
Early life
Vigeant was born in Metz.Career
Vigeant wasNapoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
's fencing instructor, and taught fencing in Paris, including at the ''Cercle de l’Union artistique'' club. His students included the portraitist Carolus-Duran.
Vigeant was the instructor at the ''Salle d'Arms du Figaro'', which was established in the offices of the Parisian newspaper ''Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...
'' with the "keen permission" of Le Figaro's owner, Hippolyte de Villemessant. The ''Salle'' was patronised by the newspaper's journalists, editors, clerks, and cashiers "especially to permit a particularly healthy and hygienic exercise after their daily, and sometimes very difficult intellectual work", and "became a popular destination for traveling amateurs and masters".
In 1885, Vigeant quit his position at the ''Cercle de l’Union artistique'' following a disagreement with another prominent fencing master, Louis Mérignac, and he became a fencing historian and collector.
Portrait by John Singer Sargent
Vigeant was friends with American expatriate society portraitist John Singer Sargent, who he met through Carolus-Duran (with whom Sargent studied painting). In 1885, Sargent painted Vigeant; the portrait has been interpreted as symbolic of Vigeant's transition from fencing master to scholar, with Vigeant depicted at a table with his fingers marking a page in a large book and hisfoil
Foil may refer to:
Materials
* Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine
* Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal
* Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food
* Tin foil, metal foil ...
relegated to the back corner of the composition. By his will made in 1916, Vigeant bequeathed the portrait "to the museum of Metz, my hometown", but on condition that it "became French again". In 1920, the painting entered the collection of the Museums of Metz.
Works by Vigeant
* ''La bibliographie de l'escrime ancienne et moderne'' (Paris, impr. de Motteroz, 1882) -full text in French here
* ''Un maître d'armes sous la Restauration: petit essai historique'' (Paris, impr. de Motteroz, 1883) -
full text in French here
* ''L'Almanach de l'escrime'' (Paris, Maison Quantin, 1889)
full text in French here
References
External links
Engraved portrait of Vigeant by Charles Baude
from Vigeant's 1889 ''L'Almanach de l'escrime''
Illustration by Frédéric Régamey showing Vigeant at home surrounded by his fencing collection
French fencers 1844 births 1916 deaths {{France-fencing-bio-stub