Adolphe Napoléon Didron (1806–1867) was a French art historian and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Biography

Adolphe Napoléon Didron was born in

Hautvillers Hautvillers () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. The Abbey of St. Peter which existed here until the French Revolution was the home of the famous Dom Perignon, a Benedictine monk whose work in wine-making helped ...

on 13 March 1806. He began his education as a student of law. He then completed his early studies at the preparatory seminaries of

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

and

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

. He became a professor of history in Paris in 1826, and devoted his leisure hours to following courses of law, medicine, etc. In 1830, he began, on the advice of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, a study of the Christian

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

of the

Middle Ages 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 global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. After visiting and examining the principal churches, first of

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, then of central and southern France, he was on his return in 1835 appointed by Guizot secretary to the Historical Committee of Arts and Monuments; and in the following years he delivered several courses of lectures on Christian

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 ...

at the Bibliothèque Royale. In 1839, he visited

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

for the purpose of examining the art of the

Eastern Church Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations further east, south or north. The term does not describe a ...

, both in its buildings and its manuscripts. In 1844, he originated the ''Annales archéologiques'', a

periodical Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

devoted to his favorite subject, which he edited until his death. In 1845 he established at Paris a special archaeological press, and at the same time a

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

factory. In the same year he was admitted to 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 ...

. His most important work is the ''Iconographie chrétienne'', of which, however, the first portion only, ''Histoire de Dieu'', was published, in 1843. It was translated into English by E. J. Millington. Among his other works may be mentioned the introduction and comments to ''Manuel d'iconographie chrétienne grecque et latine'' (by Dionysios of Fourna, translated by Paul Durand), published in 1845, the ''Iconographie des chapiteaux du palais ducal de Venise'' of 1857, and the ''Manuel des objets de bronze et d'orfèvrerie'', published in 1859. He died on 13 November 1867.

Notes

References

*Catherine Brisac &

Jean-Michel Leniaud Jean-Michel Leniaud (born 18 August 1951 in Toulon) is a French historian of art. A specialist of architecture and art of the 19th and 20th centuries, he was director of the École Nationale des Chartes from 2011 to 2016. He is president of the ...

, ''Adolphe-Napoléon Didron ou les media au service de l'art chrétien'', in ''Revue de l'Art'', 77, 1987, pp. 33–42.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Didron, Adolphe Napoleon 1806 births 1867 deaths People from Marne (department) French art historians French archaeologists Knights of the Legion of Honour