Tag Archives: Camille Enlart

special collections

Manuel d’Archéologie Française depuis les Temps Mérovingiens jusqu’à la Renaissance: Costume

Enlart, Camille. Manuel d’Archéologie Française depuis les Temps Mérovingiens jusqu’à la Renaissance: Costume. V. 3. Paris: Picard, 1916.

Collection: Cret

In his final installment of Manuel d’Archéologie Française, Camille Enlart relies heavily upon visual sources including paintings, drawings, sculptures and artifacts to produce a chronological analysis of medieval dress and style. In the introduction, Enlart establishes himself within the contemporary academic milieu, citing contributors to the study of French dress while distinguishing himself as a more deliberate scholar. He expands the traditional chronological framework and fastidiously collects and cites sources, exemplifying the turn-of-the-century trend toward positivism. He also constructs a detailed index that not only links significant terms to relevant discussion within the book, but also assists the reader in organizing these terms, understanding their meaning, and situating them in their historical context. For Enlart, the scientific method affords a greater opportunity to effectively discern and communicate new meaning from familiar material.

Library of Congress call number: NA 1043 E6 1919

special collections

Manuel d’Archéologie Française depuis les Temps Mérovingiens jusqu’à la Renaissance: Architecture Civile et Militaire

Enlart, Camille. Manuel d’Archéologie Française depuis les Temps Mérovingiens jusqu’à la Renaissance: Architecture Civile et Militaire. V. 2. Paris: Picard, 1904.

Collection: Cret

The second volume of Manuel d’Archéologie Française analyzes civil and military architecture as well as private residences, monasteries and gardens utilizing similarly scientific methods to further Enlart’s chauvinistic thesis. Again, Enlart relies heavily on visual references, incorporating a number of drawings, plans, and photographs that illustrate the hybridization and evolution of style. This text is also accompanied by an extensive index and a reference section entitled Répertoire Archéologique that provides a comprehensive listing of  archaeological and historical sites discussed in the book.

Library of Congress call number: NA 1043 E6 1919

special collections

Manuel d’Archeologie Francaise: Architecture Religieuse

Enlart, Camille.  Architecture Religieuse. Vol. 1, bks. 1 and 2, Manuel d’Archéologie Française depuis les Temps Mérovingiens jusqu’à la Renaissance. Paris: Picard, 1919-1920.

Collection: Cret

Turn-of-the-century gothic art historian Camille Enlart examined French architecture and fashion in his three volume work Manuel d’Archéologie Francaise. Published in two books, the first volume looks specifically at French religious architecture and continues Enlart’s career assertion that the cultural vacuum created by the decline of the Roman empire facilitated the insertion of French forms and themes into Mediterranean art and architecture. Enlart produces a formal survey analyzing various architectural elements, building plans, and construction practices to discern a more precise relationship between forms emerging from classical modes and those of Gallic (and likely Celtic) provenance. The resulting positivist history suggests that the Carolingian epoch represents a decided shift in the dominant aesthetic vocabulary in this part of Europe.

Each book in Enlart’s Manuel d’Archéologie Française includes a number of sketches, plans, and photographs of various architectural elements, construction practices, buildings, sculptures, and costumes. Comparative series play a significant role in each work providing information about the variety and evolution certain architectural objects.

For this volume, Enlart produced an extensive bibliography including works in English, French, Italian, and German divided into five categories: works that deal generally with the chronology and geography of French architecture; works that deal with the origins and duration of early Christian and Romanesque architecture; works that deal with French monuments from the 11th to the 16th century; works that deal with French influence in other countries for the same period; and works concerned with religious architecture. There is no index.

Library of Congress call number: NA 1043 E6 1919