Louis Charles Jean Courajod (22 February 1841 – 26 June 1896) was a French

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

museum curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

and

connoisseur A connoisseur (French traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator o ...

-collector, who was born and died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

.''Dictionary of Art historians'': "Courajod, Louis"
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Biography

Courajod was trained as a lawyer, then as an historian at the

École Nationale des Chartes The École Nationale des Chartes (, literally National School of Charters) is a French ''grande école'' and a constituent college of Université PSL, specialising in the historical sciences. It was founded in 1821, and was located initially at ...

(1864–67), then served an apprenticeship at the Cabinet des estampes of the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

, under chief curator Henri Delaborde, while he pursued his studies at the

École Pratique des Hautes Études École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. His first publication (1867) was an article on the

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in b ...

tombs at Fontevrault In 1874 he began his career at the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, developing at first his special interest in the

Gothic sculpture Gothic sculpture was a sculpture style that flourished in Europe during the Middle Ages, from about mid-12th century to the 16th century,The chronology of the period varies significantly according to the source consulted evolving from Romanesque s ...

of the 14th and 15th centuries, then turning to the '' art franc'', of the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...

s. In 1887, he was appointed a professor at the École du Louvre, teaching Medieval and Renaissance sculpture; he was director of the department from 1893. Among his students were , who succeeded him at the Louvre, and . Courajod was a regular contributor to the '' Gazette des Beaux-Arts''. He served on the

Commission des monuments historiques Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of another ...

and was a member of the Société des Antiquaires de France. Courajod introduced the term " International Gothic" to describe the Late Gothic movement expressed in sculptures and other media. A commemorative memoir, ''Louis Courajod, un historien de l'art français'', was published by Courajod's former pupil, Albert Marignan, in 1896.

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* __NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Courajod, Louis French art historians People associated with the Louvre Writers from Paris 1841 births 1896 deaths École Nationale des Chartes alumni French male non-fiction writers

Biography

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