Marcel Aubert (April 9, 1884 – December 28, 1962) was a French art historian.

Life

Marcel Aubert was the son of an architect who died when he was only seven years old. Following his studies at the

Lycée Condorcet The Lycée Condorcet () is a school founded in 1803 in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. It is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inception, var ...

, he entered 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 ...

where he wrote a thesis on the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

Senlis Senlis () is a commune in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. It is known for its Gothic cathedral and other ...

in 1907 and won the goodwill of his professor Robert de Lasteyrie. He was named attache to the printing department of the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...

in 1909, and then assistant librarian in the prints department in 1911. He retained this post until 1919 (with three years' captivity in Germany). In 1920, Aubert moved into the world of museums, taking a position at the

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 ...

as assistant to Paul Vitry in the department of Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern Sculpture. He succeeded Vitry as chief curator in 1940 and was soon named senior curator of the National Museums, a post that he occupied until his retirement in 1955, as well as being curator of the

Musée Rodin The Musée Rodin ( en, Rodin Museum) in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as ...

and the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute ...

Musée Condé The Musée Condé – in English, the Condé Museum – is a French museum located inside the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise, 40 km north of Paris. In 1897, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of Louis Philippe I, bequeathed the ...

in the Chateau de Chantilly. In tandem with his career as a curator, Aubert taught throughout his working life. He succeeded to Eugène Lefèvre-Pontalis' chair of Medieval Archaeology at the École des Chartes in 1924, where he taught for nearly 30 years. He also taught at the

École du Louvre The École du Louvre is an institution of higher education and grande école located in the Aile de Flore of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. It is dedicated to the study of archaeology, art history, anthropology and epigraphy. Admission is ...

as associate professor of Industrial Arts from 1921 to 1924 and as professor of Sculpture from 1940 to 1949, and at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Scienc ...

in the chair of French Architecture from 1929 to 1934 and the chair of Medieval Archaeology starting in 1937. Aubert worked mostly in the field of medieval architecture, but he was also interested in sculpture. He is also considered one of the fathers of the history of stained glass. He showed that not only is architectural evolution a consequence of the tastes of the time, but also of the mastery of techniques. Aubert is counted among the first of the teachers of French art history. Aubert was elected to the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...

(Academy of Humanities) in 1934. In 1936, he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

Works

Only Aubert's monographs and his university works are listed here. For more information, see ''Bibliographie des travaux scientifiques de M. Marcel Aubert'', Paris: Société française d'archéologie, 1948, which contains all his publications up till 1948, 297 in number. *''La Cathédrale de Senlis'', thesis at l'École des chartes, 1905 *''La Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris'', doctoral thesis, published in Paris: Longuet
First edition, 1909Second edition 1919
*''Monographie de la cathédrale de Senlis'', Senlis: Dufresne, 1911
''Senlis''
Paris: Laurens, 1912 *''Mennetou-sur-Cher'', Blois: éd. du jardin de la France, 1921 *''Catalogue des sculptures du Moyen Âge, de la Renaissance et des Temps modernes u musée du Louvre', Paris: Musées nationaux, 1922 (with Paul Vitry) *edited ''L'architecture religieuse en France à l'époque gothique'' by Robert de Lasteyrie (posth.), Paris: Picard, 1926–1927 *''Notre-Dame de Paris. Architecture et sculpture'', Paris: Morancé, 1928 *''L'art français à l'époque romane. Architecture et sculpture'', Paris: Morancé, 4 vol., 1929–1948 *''La sculpture française au début de l'époque gothique'', Paris: ed. by Pégase, 1929 *''Les richesses d'art de la France. La sculpture en Bourgogne'', Paris: Van Oest, 1930 *''L'abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay'', Paris, 1931 *''Le Mont-Saint-Michel. L'abbaye'', Grenoble: P. Arthaud, 1937 *''Vitraux des cathédrales de France aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles'', Paris: Plon, 1937 *''L'église de Conques'', Paris: Laurens, 1939 *''L'architecture cistercienne en France'', Paris: éd. d'art et d'histoire, 1943 (with the Marquise de Maillé) *''Rodin, sculpteur'', Paris, 1952

Bibliography

*''Marcel Aubert (1884-1962)'', 1963, 11 p. *''Bibliographie des travaux scientifiques de M. Marcel Aubert'', Paris : Société française d'archéologie, 1948, 41 p.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubert, Marcel 1884 births 1962 deaths Scientists from Paris École Nationale des Chartes alumni Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres French medievalists French art historians Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Lycée Condorcet alumni Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques 20th-century French historians