Mercurial markers: Interpretations of architectural monuments in early nineteenth century France

This study seeks to examine and understand different interpretations of the architectural monument within the historical frame of the early nineteenth century in France. Especially significant among those interpretations is the concept that the construction of a sense of place and of a people's identity is embodied in architectural artifacts.Starting with a study of eighteenth-century climate theory and of subsequent investigations on the nature of the diversity of peoples, the first part of the dissertation focuses on the discovery and identification of pre-classical sites and remains in France and England.The second chapter examines the foundation and work of the Academie Celtique, an institution created in 1804 for the study of Celtic language and monuments. One of its founding members, Jacques Antoine Dulaure is studied with special attention for his active participation in proto-anthropological studies, as well as for his own writings on religion and monuments.Dulaure's interpretation of landmarks or herms is studied in the third chapter, in which the later fortune of his ideas and their dissemination in nineteenth-century France is briefly examined in connection with the teaching of Jean Nicholas Huyot at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.The last section examines one aspect of these previous interpretations as they extended into the nineteenth century. After a concise survey of earlier developments in geography and cartography in France, the emergence of popular travel is here investigated together with its accompanying literature. The redefined role of the architectural monument in nineteenth-century France depended on the simultaneous representation of history and place made possible by its visitors and its published guide or set of instructions. The spirit that nourished those travels led to the ambitious programs of monumental reconstruction that started in the 1830s and continued with increasing importance in the following decades.