Dreaming the past: from arche to the epiphanous moment in the art of Gustave Moreau (1826-1898)

My dissertation explores the career of the prolific French artist Gustave Moreau (1826- 1898) by examining how he received and reimagined the past from antiquity to the Renaissance in his art. This dissertation consists of four chapters, each representing an area of passionate study undertaken by the artist: the Italian Renaissance, the Venetian Renaissance, classical mythology, and music. It is the first study to offer a sustained discussion of the influence of music and opera on his oeuvre. Moreover, I propose a framework for understanding the epiphany—or epiphanous moment—which I argue was one of the primary goals of Moreau’s painting practice. The epiphany refers to the manifestation of a divine or supernatural being while also connoting the idea of realization or sudden understanding. Moreau’s writings demonstrate his intention to paint ideals that might prompt characters within his visual scenes to be confronted by the literal epiphany of a deity (usually a Greek or Roman god) while the viewer was encouraged to have a similarly revelatory experience when gazing at the works. I examine this phenomenon in his painting. To paint the epiphanous moment, I argue that Moreau drew from the richness of his studies of the art of the Italian Renaissance and antiquity, as well as from the lyricism and poetry in music and opera.