Gustave Moreau's "La Vie de l'humanité": Orpheus in the Context of Religious Syncretism,

Universal Histories, and Occultism

Author(s): Dorothy M. Kosinski
Source: Art Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1, Mysticism and Occultism in Modern Art (Spring, 1987),
pp. 9-14
Published by: College Art Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/776837
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Gustave Moreau's "La Vie de
l'humanite":Orpheus in the
Context of Religious Syncretism
UniversalHistories, and Occultism
By Dorothy M. Kosinski
T he figureof Orpheusdominatesthe dating from the beginning and the other
work of Gustave Moreau.' La Vie
de l'humanith (Fig. 1) is paradigmatic
of Moreau's aesthetic: the significance
of Orpheus and the mingling of pagan
myth and Biblical story are typical both
of the artist's fascination with the
priestly poet-initiate and of his preoccu-
pation with religious and cultural syn-
cretism.
This painting, however, reflects more
than an individual artist's obsession with
the orphic mysteries. It is a manifesta-
tion of a broad intellectual and philo-
sophical current in the nineteenth cen-
tury that generated universal histories,
palingenetic theories, world mythogra-
phies, syncretic studies of religions, and
an enthusiasm for the occult and mysti-
cism. Myths and legends were valued as
the keys not only to reveal past cultures,
but also to understand the current direc-
tion of society, and even to predict the
future of mankind-the bases then of
broad philosophical systems. There was
an intoxication with the idea of an initial
golden age of civilization. In search for
the matrix of civilization, philologists
examined the origins of language, litera-
ture, and religions of cultures past and
present. Linguists traced the develop-
ment of language, positing an original
era of communication involving the
exchange of uncorrupted forms. The
traditional rigid boundaries separating
the Judaeo-Christian tradition from the
Greco-Roman pantheon and from East-
ern religions softened, as historians of
religion sought for a universalderivation
of all sacred doctrines. Symbolism par-
takes of this generally syncretic appre-
ciation of cultural history, myth, reli-
gion, and language.
This spirit of cultural syncretism is
embodied in two seminal works, one
from the end of the century. Georg
Friedrich Creuzer's Symbolik und
Mythologie der alten V6lker, first pub-
lished in 1810-12, is a vast syncretic
study of world religions. Orpheus, in his
roles as initiate in Eastern mysteries,
priest of the Dionysian cults, bringer of
civilization to Greece, is an important
figure in Creuzer's work, linking the
esoteric traditions of East and West, and
confirming thereby the author's central
theory that there exists a common
source for all of man's development (an
evolution envisaged as essentially spiri-
tual or religious). Edouard Schur6's
Grands Initibs, first published in 1889,
is a highly influential Theosophical text
that celebrates Rama, Krishna,
Hermes, Moses, Pythagoras, Orpheus,
Plato, Christ, and Buddha as prophetsof
a single truth. Like Creuzer, Schur
claims Orpheus as the great hierophant,
priest of Dionysian mysteries who brings
to Greece the truths of sacred Egypt.
A number of specific parallels exist
between Moreau's Vie de l'humanitM
and literary works or theoretical texts by
the syncretist historians and occultist
philosophers of the nineteenth century.
For instance, several compositional, the-
matic, and iconographic elements are
common to the painting and to works by
the mystic philosopherand writer Pierre
Simon Ballanche, the philosopher and
painter Paul Marc Chenavard, and the
mystics and occultists Eliphas Levi,
Jos6phin P61adan,and Papus. The most
significant points include the central
importance of Orpheus, the juxtaposi-
tion of pagan myth and Biblical story
(specifically the myth of Orpheus and
passages from Genesis), the prominence
of the redemptive Christ, a cyclical pat-
tern for mankind's development-most
frequentlyperceivedas a degenerationor
negative unfolding-and a system of par-
allels between these ages of mankindand
the stages of the life of the individual.
oreau's paintinghas the imposing
M appearance of an altar, the ten
images surrounded and unified by a
heavy gilt frame. The sequence of the
panels-nine rectangular images ar-
ranged in three rows of three panels
each, surmounted by the semicircular
lunette with the image of Christ-
implies a cyclical movement of history, a
disintegration redeemed by the victory
of the greatest initiate, the Resurrection
of Christ. The top row depicts Adam
and Eve: The Age of Gold-"Prayer,
"Ecstasy," and "Sleep"; the middle row
Orpheus: The Age of Silver--"Inspira-
tion," "Song," and "Tears" (Figs. 2,3,
and 4); the bottom row Cain and Abel:
The Age of Iron-"Work," "Rest," and
"Death." The Greek myth of Orpehus
is, thus, sandwiched between two stories
from Genesis.
Moreau's own commentary on the
work focuses on the complex interrela-
tionships of the panels. The painting is
intended to present the stages of man-
kind's development (golden age, silver
age, iron age) and the growth of the
individual (childhood, youth, maturity).
It is arranged, moreover, according to
the cycle of the day (morning, noon,
evening). Moreau also delineates more
subtle progressions:levels of religious or
spiritual concentration (prayer, ecstasy,
sleep), of artistic effort (inspiration,
song, tears), and of productive labor
(work, rest, death).
The development and increasing so-
phistication of mankind, the movement
from primitive to civilized state, is
viewed as a gradual deterioration, a fall
Spring 1987 9
 Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 1 Gustave Moreau, La Vie de l'humanite, 1886, oil on wood, nine panels,
each: 33.5 x 25.5 cm; lunette, 37 x 94 cm. Paris, Mus6e Gustave Moreau.
Fig. 2 Gustave Moreau, "Le matin, L'inspiration,"panel from La Vie de
l'humanite.
Fig. 3 Gustave Moreau, "Le midi, Le chant," panel from La Vie de l'humanite.
Fig. 4 Gustave Moreau, "Le soir, Les larmes," panel from La Vie de l'Humanite.
from grace, a corruption of innocence. untimely revelation of the mysteries or
The sequence within the vertical col- transgressionof divine rules; Cain stains
umns expresses this process of degenera- the earthly paradise with the murder of
tion: from prayer to inspiration to work; his brother Abel. Unifying all is sin
from ecstasy to song to rest; from sleep itself: Original Sin, Orpheus' glance
to tears to death. Indeed, a loss of Para- back at Eurydice, Cain's murder of
dise may be seen as the overridingtheme Abel.
of the nine panels, connecting the Bibli- Between the Paradise of first man and
cal and mythical stories: Adam and Eve the corrupt world of societal man,
are compelled to leave Paradise; Or- Orpheus represents the incipient stages
pheus' serene world is shattered by his of civilization. Indeed, the central panel
loss of Eurydice-he loses the trans- of the entire work presents the Apolline
forming power of his music and ulti- Orpheus bathed in the brilliant sunlight Fig. 4
mately his own life as punishmentfor his of midday, singing and playing his lyre,

10 Art Journal
 attended by his muse, surrounded by
becalmed beasts and flourishing trees,
enchanting all by the power of his music.
Classical mythology is filled with the
embodiments of the beginnings of civili-
zation, the harbingers of knowledge and
art: Prometheus, Daedalus, Hephaistos,
as well as Orpheus. Moreau specifically
acknowledges the appropriateness of
pagan mythology to represent the begin-
nings of civilization: "Intelligence and
poetry are much better personified in
these whole epochs of art and imagina-
tion (pagan antiquity) than in the Bible,
steeped as it is in feeling and religious-
ness."2 The artist's commentary, how-
ever, does not providea specific explana-
tion for the source of his inclusion of
Orpheusin this otherwise Christian con-
text.3
An obvious parallel to and likely
source for Moreau's use of Orpheus in a
Biblical context is the frequent depiction
of Orpheus in Early Christian art. Art-
ists in the early Christian period
exploited the parallel between the magic
of Orpheus' music and the calming
effect of the Divine Word and perceived
in the image of Orpheus among the
beasts an analogy to Christ surrounded
by his flock.4In the generally syncretic
atmosphere of the dying days of pagan-
ism, and especially in the context of the
correspondences between Orphism and
Christianity, the lyre-playing Orpheus
among the becalmed animals was fre-
quently depicted in catacombs, on sarco-
phagi, and in other contexts as well.
That the excavations of the cata-
combs during the latter half of the nine-
teenth century were widely known and
well documented makes it likely that
Moreau was aware of this tradition. He
was probably familiar with the famous
image of Orpheus from the ceiling of the
catacomb of Domitilla' (Fig. 5). This
painting is a clear precedent for the
depiction of Orpheus taming the ani-
mals in the center of a Christian icono-
graphic scheme. In a central octagonal,
the lyre-playing Orpheus, clearly recog-
nizeable by his Phrygian attire, sits
among various animals, flanked by
trees. Eight smaller scenes encircle this
central image: four pastoral settings
(two with rams, two with bulls) alter-
nate with four Biblical subjects (Moses
drawing water from a rock, Daniel as
Orant between two lions, Christ raising
Lazarus, David with his slingshot). The
commentary that accompanies this
image in P.R. Garucci's Storia della
arte cristiana nei primi otto secoli della
chiesa (1873) identifies Christ as the
new, the real Orpheus:"Christ, the non-
fabulous Orpheus, truly he led man
from animal existence to a life of reason
and taught him the way of virtue and
happiness."6 This statement is conso-
::-:i:::::-i:
~i:l:::ili-i:::l-:i-iiil:ii:-i-:~~;~,~~
:::1: Buchez, especially in their concepts of a
?:- : :::::::
universal history; their synthesis of lan-
ii,i:: guage, myth, and religion, as well as
their belief in a spiritual center to man's
existence and development.7
:i Pierre Simon Ballanche's "Orpheus,"
written in 1827 and published in 1830, is
the only completed portion of La Palin-
_?
genbsie sociale ou thbodicee de l'his-
toire.8This ramblingepic, characterized
by a lofty if confused ambition to ascer-
tain the truth of history, the meaning of
religion, and the significance of man in
the universe, combines religion, mythol-
:;:::i:::
:::: ::::::-:i`:1?-:-:;:;:::-:i:;::-:-_:':-:- :
:-:?-::--:::_:-::::-:-i:
:::-- i;:::::::::
ogy, philology, philosophy, and occul-
tism. Ballanche espoused a theory of
Fig. 5 "Orpheus,"3rd century, fresco. palingenesis, a concept of evolution
Rome, ceiling of the Catacomb of through cycles or stages of development.
Domitilla.
Although focused on a conventional
Christian notion of Fall and Redemp-
nant with the syncretism of the univer- tion, this cyclical vision of history
salist historians, who viewed Orpheus as involves, as well, a belief in reincarna-
one of a succession of initiates culminat- tion or metempsychosis. Mankind
ing in Christ. Moreau, however, was evolves in a series of stages that parallel
probably interested less in a specific the biological sequence of youth, matu-
compositional model than in the corre- rity, and death. Mankind struggles
spondence between the intellectual syn- through eternally repeated cycles of fall
cretism of the nineteenth century and and expiation, test and redemption,until
the religious syncretism of the Early he reattains a state of perfection, the
Christian period. Thus it is important to perfect unity of Adam, the primordial
examine how the painting manifests this Androgyne. This arduous evolution
broad intellectual current of the period towards the ideal of perfect unity takes
and to analyze specific elements that it place through the ascension of what
shares with the works and theories of Ballanche terms the "plebeian princi-
universal historians, mythographers of ple."'9In each plebeian age, an initiate
world religions, and occultists. reveals a higher wisdom that over-
whelms the established, traditional pa-
n earliermanifestationof this syn- trician law. Despite his creative syncre-
cretism-and a highly influential tism, Ballanche's philosophy of social
one-is Eugene Delacroix's cycle of palingenesis functions within the perim-
paintings executed between 1838 and eters of Christian or Catholic doctrine:
1847 for the Library of the Palais Bour- Christ is the supreme initiate, Christian-
bon in Paris (Fig. 6). Orpheus is repre- ity is the last step before perfection, and
sented there as instituting civilization, a the truths of all earlier religions are
level in man's education or initiation. contained within Christianity."
This movement towards sophistication Ballanche's "Orpheus" spans fifteen
is, however, interpretedas a gradual loss centuries of history but is focused pri-
of purity leading ultimately to man's marily on the history of Rome. The
fall. Delacroix's work may well be a narrative involves stories within stories:
source for Moreau's notion of Orpheus' the blind bard, Thamyris, and the Egyp-
role in the degenerative movement of tian priests explain Aeneas' arrival in
history. Italy to King Evander of Latium. A
One may discern in Delacroix's major theme here, as with the compara-
work-as well as in Moreau's-the tive mythographers, is the transmission
influence of Giovanni Battista Vico's of sacred truths from the East via Egypt
cyclical theory of history. In his Scienza to Greece. The story of Orpheus is
nuova (1744) Vico posited a succession folded into this complex narrative. Bal-
of constantly repeating cycles. His phi- lanche imaginatively, even wildly, com-
losophy was humanistic. Humanity, he bines myth, legend, and historical fact
believed, creates its institutions: lan- without regard for chronology, original
guage, religion, mythology, and society content, or meaning. He is interested
are products of man's will. And all less in the traditional mythological fig-
man's creations are subject to historical ure of Orpheus than in his role as ini-
analysis. Vico's Scienza nuova had tiate, revealer of truth, instrument of
widespread impact on the intellectual man's evolution from one palingenetic
circles of the nineteenth century. His stage to another. In the prologue Bal-
influence is reflected in the works of lanche explains that Orpheus is an
Ballanche, Edgar Quinet, Jules Michel- abstraction, a powerful symbolic expres-
et, Chenavard, and Philippe Benjamin sion of the traditions of antiquity." This
Spring 1987 11
 4200 B.C.,reaches its halfway point and schemes. It is not at all surprising that
zenith with the birth of Christ, and many of the major historians and
deteriorates to a final destruction in A.D. mythographers, including Quinet,
4200. These 8,400 years are derived Michelet, and Alfred Maury, studied
from a 1:100 comparative ratio with an and wrote extensively on esoteric reli-
individual's ideal lifespan of 84 years. gions and magic.
4 gll This The Abbe Alphonse Louis Constant,
cycle is divided into four phases:
Adam and Eve to the Tower of Babel; better known as Eliphas Levi, was one of
the Tower of Babel to the birth of the most colorful and prominent occul-
Christ; the birth of Christ to the rise of tists. His extensive writings reveal his
America; and the rise of America to the youthful training towards the priest-
end of civilization in 4200. Each of these hood, his interest in Fourierisme and
broad cultural, religious, and societal other socialist-mystical movements, as
6 vient stages was to be embodied in the decora- well as his syncretist religious philoso-
Fig. Eugene Delacroix, Orphke
policer les Grecs encore sauvages et tion of the four great piers of the Pan- phy.17He writes: "All the universe is but
la
leur enseigner les arts de paix, theon. The focus of each scheme was a one sublime temple, having but one
1838-1847, oil mural. Paris, Library of single great initiate, a concept like Bal- king, one sun, and one God." Orpheus,
the Palais Bourbon. lanche's "spontaneousmen."" The first ancestor of Plato, Pythagoras, the Alex-
phase was identified as the Age of Gold andrians, and Pascalis Martines and his
manipulation of myth is entirely consis- (religion, centered on the figure of disciples, plays an important role in the
tent with Ballanche's concern with the Moses); the second was the Age of Sil- revelation of esoteric truth, the unifying
"poetry of thought,"l2 his concepts that ver (poetry and Homer); the third the principle of Levi's cosmology. Levi com-
"religion is an allegorical history of Age of Bronze (philosophy and Aristot- bines pagan myth and Biblical tale. For
nature" and that "mythology is a con- le); the fourth the Age of Iron (science example, in "Magie en grace," a chapter
densed history.""13Ballanche's use of and Galileo). The similarity between in Histoire de la magie (1860), Levi
Orpheus as a symbolic entity parallels Chenavard's scheme and Moreau's sys- conflates Medea's murderof her brother
Moreau's interpretationof Orpheus and tem of analogies in La Vie d'humanite" with Cain's fratricide. In Clef des
pagan mythology in general as the is clear. grands mysteres (1861), Adam and Eve
appropriate representation for the Chenavard also conceived two epic and Cain and Abel are manipulated as
dawnings of civilization. poems with the theme of Orpheus, one symbols of different sides of the human
Paul Marc Chenavard's series of proposedin outline to his friend Laprade personality or psyche. Levi synthesizes
paintings and sculpture proposed in in 1839 and the second sketched out all religions, using myth and Bible
1848 for the Pantheon in Paris, as well towards the end of his life. Like Bal- interchangeably to inform his occult
as his outlines for two epic poems, share lanche, Chenavard discovered in Or- philosophy.19
important characteristics with Bal- pheus a profound expression of his his- The mystical philosophy of Josephin
lanche's "Orpheus" and Moreau's Vie torical philosophy. He planned to P6ladan, who adopted the title Sair
de l'humanite: the central symbolic role explore the four phases of history Merodack to emphasize his supposed
of Orpheus, religious syncretism, a through the story of the relationship of descent from that Assyrian king, was
degenerative cyclical history, and a sys- Orpheus and Eurydice. In the first profoundly influenced by Eliphas Levi.
tem of analogies between stages of man- stage, Orpheus is in Egypt, where he Between 1892 and 1896 P6ladan orga-
kind's development and the growth of begins architecture, building a temple to nized the Salons Rose + Croix Catho-
the individual. the goddess Psyche. The second stage lique, which constituted a crucial link
Chenavard'sill-fated programfor the unfolds in Greece as Orpheus honors between the occultist milieu and Sym-
Pantheon was to have consisted of 111 Psyche in her human form, Eurydice, bolist artists and writers. His Rose +
painted panels, 5 mosaics, 6 statues, and with his sculpture. In the third phase, Croix Esthktique, published in conjunc-
a monument to universal religion. The Eurydice is revived as the Virgin Mary tion with the first exhibition, was an
program, which would have comprised through the power of Orpheus' music. especially powerful articulation of the
scenes both from the Old and New Tes- This time Orpheus expresses his love concept of art as religion, artist as priest.
taments and from ancient and modern through painting. In the final stage, PNladanwas, moreover,a prolificwriter,
history (including vignettes from the Orpheus (the ideal) is destroyed by his whose works are permeated with the
ancient Near East, Greece, Rome, the brother, Typhon (the embodiment of occultist's typical preoccupation with
Middle Ages, the rise of Islam, the materialism). Chenavard traces his reli- syncretism.2 Invariably PNladan links
Crusades, the Renaissance, the expan- gious-artistic ages within the context of paganism and Christianity, establishing
sion of America and episodes from the the myth of Orpheus, manipulating a succession of great philosophers or
lives of Luther, Voltaire, and Napo- myth and history with a freedom simi- initiates (including, of course, Orpheus)
leon), embodies the concept of the ency- lar, once again, to the creative invention who reveal a single truth. This fluid
clopedic epic of modern man. The of Ballanche.16 syncretism characterizes his play La
monument to universal religion was a The interest in esoteric religions and Terre d'Orphbe.This work, which exists
symbolic amalgam of the Brahminic occult philosophies may be compared to only in manuscript outlines, was
cow, the Persian gryphon, the Chaldean the efforts of the universal historians intended as the third part of a trilogy
Sphinx, the Egyptian Bark of the Dead, and syncretic mythographers to link entitled Les Idkes et les formes. The
the Arc of the Convenant, all sur- past and present, to absorb the variety of other two sections of this trilogy were
mounted by the Chalice of the Last man's history into a single unifying entitled La Terre du Sphinx (Egypte)
Supper. This sculpture, which was to truth. The exclusive doctrines of conven- (1900) and La Terre du Christ (Pales-
have been executed in granite and mar- tional religions were rejected in favor of tine) (1901).21 P61ladancombines the
ble, was conceived as an altar for all the a syncretic vision embracing a succes- biblical story of Cain and Abel with the
peoples of the world14(Fig. 7). sion of multiple revelations through cen- myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. In one
Chenavard'sgloomy theory of history turies. Typically, Orpheus was the version of La Terre d'Orphbe, Jubal
is precise. Time begins with the year focus, the metaphoric key in these occult (named in Genesis 4:22 as one of Cain's

12 Art Journal
 interest in mysticism. It is not surprising
then that the multivalent figure of
Orpheus-poet, musician, initiate, ma-
gician, heroic intruder in Hades,
lamenting lover, victim of Dionysian
fury, but especially harbinger of civili-
zation, archetypal artist, leader of cults,
and priest-should play a crucial role in
this syncretic intellectual environment.
The syncretic attitude is evident in
the mixture of pagan and Christian
imagery that enriches not only Moreau's
work but that of Puvis de Chavannes,
Redon, and many others. Gauguin's
interest in the devout peasantry of Brit-
tany and especially his conflation of
Tahitian myth and Christian subjects
are other expressions of this syncreti-
cism. The interest in Hinduism shared
by Redon and Mallarm6 reflects a pro-
found curiosity in non-Western reli-
gions. And a more general fascination
with alternative religions, the occult,
and theosophy can be found in the
eccentric mysticism of the Nabis or Sar
P6ladan's Rosicrucians. This all-encom-
Fig. 7 Paul Marc Chenavard, La philosophie de l'Histoire, c. 1848, oil on canvas, passing vision of man's history and
303 x 380 cm. Lyon, Mus6e des Beaux-Arts. development may be considered a domi-
nant characteristic of the intellectual
own descendantsand ancestor of all who Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Lao-Tze, fabric of both Romanticism and Sym-
play the lyre and flute) is Cain's victim. Buddha, Pythagoras, and many other bolism, an importanttheme in the works
of artists from Delacroix to Rodin.
P61adan conflates biblical and pagan initiates, all revealing a universal,
martyrdoms by substituting the musi- alchemical truth.23Like the mythogra- Indeed, such epic works as Rodin's
cian Jubal for the traditional victim, phers and universal historians, Papus Gates of Hell (1880-1917), Gauguin's
Abel. Pl1adan's manipulation of the emphasizes the role of the East in this Who Are We? Where Do We Come
basic story from Genesis is even more process of initiation. His succession of From? WhereAre We Going? (1897), or
extensive in another version of his play. cycles of revelation and reincarnation is Munch's more psychologically oriented
Noah's descendant, Japheth's son Tubal resolved ultimately with the reintegra- painting, The Dance of Death (1899-
(easily confused with Cain's descendant tion of the individual with the collective 1900), reflect this utopian search for
Tubal-Cain, ancestor of all metalwork- being, the oneness of Adam, the primor- universal truths.
ers), is pitted against Hebel (Abel). The dial Androgyne.24 Moreover, Papus
brothers' conflict is a result of their bases his historical process on what he Notes
attentions to the same woman, Eurydi- calls a "method of analogies," by which 1 The catalogue raisonnee, Pierre-Louis Ma-
ce. Eurydice is a follower of Orpheus, parallels between the cycle of the single thieu, Gustave Moreau, Boston, 1876, includes
the hierophant who returns from his day and the seasonal cycle of the year only thirteen finished works with the subject of
initiation in Crete to bring sacred truth are established.25 Hence, dawn is the Orpheus. Orpheus, however, is the subject of
numerous drawings, watercolors, sketches, and
to Thrace. Finally, Eurydice falls victim springtime of the day, midday is sum-
to a band of priestesses who betray mer, dusk is autumn, and night is win- paintings in the Musee Gustave Moreau,
Paris.
Orpheus' Apolline teachings and rees- ter. Furthermore, dawn is compared to
tablish human sacrifice and other for- the first quarter of the moon, day to the 2 "L'intelligence et la poesie sont bien mieux
bidden acts. As if in concession to the second quarter, evening to the third personnifiees dans ces epoques tout entieres
traditional myth, Pl1adan's Orpheus quarter, and night to the full moon. This d'art et d'imagination (l'antiquit6 pai'enne)que
dans la bible, toute de sentiments et de religio-
attempts to retrive Eurydice from death integration of cycles of day, month, and
site." In L'Assembleur de Ecrits com-
but is himself a victim of the Maenads. year is comparable to the cyclical theo-
or Gerard be ries of the universal histories and plets de Gustave Moreau,roves:ed. Pierre-Louis
Papus, Encausse, may syn-
considered the most important occultist cretic studies of world religions as well Mathieu, Fontfroide, 1984, p. 104.
of the 1880s and 1890s. His writings are as to basic compositional and concep- 3 Earlier scholarly literature on Moreau does not
permeated with the same themes that tual elements of Moreau's Vie de attempt to explain the curious juxtaposition of
dominate the works of Moreau and Eli- l'humanite. mythological legend and Christian story in the
phas Levi, as well as the works of his painting. Ary Renan, "Gustave Moreau," Par-
fellow Lyon natives Ballanche, Chenav- oreau's painting,then, is conso- is, 1900, barely makes reference to the work.
ard, and P61adan.22 His "Vie de Christ," nant with a significant intellec- The Abbe Loisel, L'Inspiration chretienne du
conceived as a response to the positivist tual phenomenon in the nineteenth cen- peintre Gustave Moreau, Paris, 1912, p. 7, in
studies of David Friedrich Strauss and tury involving a desire to create broad, his general insistence on the importance of
advocates a of man's de- Christian themes in Moreau's oeuvre, seems
Joseph-Ernest Renan, syn- all-encompassing systems to ignore the unorthodoxinclusion
cretic view of religions. Christ is the velopment-past, present, future. This intentionally
of Orpheus in the context of Genesis. Mathieu
culmination in a series of cycles of reve- impulse is manifested in the prolifera-
lation. Orpheus, moreover, is important tion of universal histories and synthetic (cited n. 1), p. 167, who cites the Bible and
Hesoid's Works and Days as sources for the
in a spiritual hierarchy that includes world mythographies as well as the

Spring1987 13
 work, acknowledges the "syncretic order" of
the composition. Jean Paladilhe, Gustave
Moreau, Paris, 1971, p. 37, and Julius Kaplan,
Gustave Moreau, exh. cat., Los Angeles, Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, 1974, p. 44,
stress the intellectual coherence of the unifica-
tion of sacred and profane themes.
4 Andre Boulanger, Orphee-Rapports de
l'Orphisme et du Christianisme, Paris, 1925,
pp. 157-163.
5 This fresco was included in Antonio Bosio,
Roma sotteranea, Rome, 1632, p. 239. It was
frequently illustrated during the nineteenth
century. It is number CLXXII bis, 645a in
A.L. Millin's reedition of the 1811 Galerie
mythique, Nouvelle Galerie mythique, Paris,
1859, which included a part of Guigniaut's
translation of Creuzer's Symbolik and a com-
mentary on the relationship between art and
religion by Alfred Maury; Fig. 230 in Ren6
M6nard, La Mythologie dans l'art ancien et
moderne, Paris, 1878; and Fig. 35 in Andr6
P6rat6, L'Archbologie chr~tienne, Paris, 1892,
p. 66.
6 "Cristo, il non favoloso Orfeo, veramente
richiam6 l'uomo dalla vita animalesca ad una
vita ragionevole e gl' insegn6 la via della virtiue
della felicitY." See: P.R. Garucci, Storia
dell'arte cristiana, Prato, 1873, vol. ii, p. 29,
tav. 25.
7 See George L. Hersey, "Delacroix's Imagery in
the Palais Bourbon Library," Journal of the
Warburgand Courtauld Institutes, 31 (1968)
pp. 383-403. Michelet translated La Scienza
nuova in 1827.
8 Ballanche's theories are elaborated in baffling
and confused form throughout his works:
Essais de palingMnksiesocial; Essais sur les
institutions sociales; La Vision d'Hibal, chef
d'un clan &cossais;and Paling?n4sie social ou
Thbodiche de l'Histoire. This last work,
intended as the author's magnum opus, was to
have several parts: "Orph6e, Formule
g6n6rale," "La Ville des expiations," and
"616gie."Only "Orph6e" was completed. See:
Pierre Simon Ballanche, Oeuvres compl&tes,
Paris, 1830.
9 See: Albert Joseph George, Pierre Simon Bal-
lanche, Precursor of Romanticism, Syracuse,
1945, pp. 96-97; Brian Juden, "Particularit6s
du mythe d'Orph6e chez Ballanche," CAIEF,
congr~s, 24 juillet 1969, pp. 137-52; Joseph C. 20 PNladan'sworks include: La D&cadencelatine,
Sloane, French Painting between the Past and
the Present, Artists, Critics, and Traditions
from 1848 to 1870, Princeton, 1951; idem,
"Paul Chenavard,"Art Bulletin, 33 (1951) pp.
240-58; idem, Paul Marc Joseph Chenavard,
Artist of 1848, Chapel Hill, 1962.
10 For a discussion of Ballanche's Christianity,
see: Victor de Laprade, "Ballanche, sa vie et ses
6crits," M6moire, Lyon, Academie des 21 Josbphin P6ladan, "Projets de pieces de
Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts, Classe des
Lettres, 1850, tome 2, pp. 176-8.
11 See: Ballanche, Oeuvres Completes (cited n.
8), Vol. 3, pp. 90, 135, 136, 142 especially.
12 Ibid., p. 82. Ballanche speaks of"la po6sie de la
pens6e."
14 Art Journal
13 Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 6. Ballanche claims that "la 22 Lyon had been a center of occult and spiritist
religion est l'histoire all6gorique de la nature." learning since the Medieval and Renaissance
He also states: "La mythologie est une histoire periods. In this regard, see: Paul Leutrat, La
condens6e." Sorcellerie Lyonnaise, Paris, 1977. Concerning
14 See: Sloane, "Chenavard," pp. 246-50, and Papus in particular and occultism in general,
see: Filiz Eda Burhan, "Vision and Visionaries:
Chenavard, especially pp. 44-60 (both cited
n.9). Chenavard'scommission was a product of Nineteenth-Century Psychological Theory, the
the liberal government installed in 1848. By Occult Sciences, and the Formation of the
1852, under the encouragement of the conser- Symbolist Aesthetic in France" (Ph.D. diss.,
Princeton University, 1979); Alain Mercier,
vative government of Napoleon III, the Pan-
theon was returned to the Church. Of course, Les Sources esoteriques et occultes de la poesie
symboliste, 1870-1914, Paris, 1969; Jean Pier-
Chenavard's pantheistic, anticlerical program
was canceled. Neither the conservativesnor the rot, L'lImaginairedicadent, Paris, 1977.
liberals viewed the paintings merely as a deco- 23 Papus, "La Vie de Christ," Manuscript
rative scheme; both factions perceived the
5491.1.26, Fonds Papus, Biblioth~que Munici-
political and philosophical implications of the pale, Lyon, p. 23. See also: "Alchimie," Manu-
plan. Indeed, Chenavard and some of the most script 5491. I. 7, and "Alchimie au XIXe
important members of his circle were actively siecle," Manuscript 5491, I. 2.
involved in liberal politics.
24 Papus, "Occultisme contemporaine," Manu-
15 Concerning his concept of "hommes spon- script 5491.1.17, Fonds Papus, Bibliothbque
tan6s," see: Ballanche, Prolegomenes pour Munipale, Lyon, p. 25: "Pour att6neur l'acte de
Orphie, in Oeuvres Complktes(cited n. 8), Vol. sa cr6ature, le Cr6ateur, utilisant le Temps et
4, p. 6. I'Espace qui 6taient corollaires du plan phy-
16 See: Sloane, Chenavard (cited n. 9), chapter iv, sique, cr6a la Diff6rentiationde l'Etre coll6ctif:
chaque cellule d'Adam devint un etre humain
"Theory of History," pp. 70-71, 81-83. See
individuel et ainsi devint le Principe de la vie
also: Herbert J. Hunt, The Epic in Nineteenth-
universelle et da la forme plastique: Eve.
Century France, Oxford, 1941.
L'Homme dfit, des lors, 6purer les principes
17 Eliphas L6vi's works include: Bible de la inf6rieurs qu'il avait ajout6 A sa nature, par la
liberth, Paris, 1841; Doctrines religieuses et souffrance, le r6signation aux epreuves et
sociales, Paris, 1841; La Mare de dieu, Paris, l'abandon de sa volont6 entre les mains de son
1844; Des origines cabalistiques du christian- Cr6ateur. Les r6incarnationsfurent le principal
isme, De la kabbale considbrbecomme source instrument de salut et, comme tous les hommes
de tous les dogmes, Paris, 1855; Dogme et sont les cellules d'un meme Etre, le salut indivi-
rituel de la haute magie, Paris, 1856; Histoire duel ne sera total que lorsque le salut collectif
de la magie, Paris, 1860; La Clef des grands sera accompli."
mysteres, Paris, 1861; Fables et symboles en
25 Papus, "L'Analogie," Manuscript 5491.1.3,
philosophie occulte, Paris, 1862; La Science
Fonds Papus, Bibliotheque Municipale, Lyon.
des esprits, Paris, 1865; Le Livre des splen-
deurs, Paris, 1868. Concerning L6vi, see: Frank
Paul Bowman, Eliphas Lbvi: Visionnaire Dorothy M. Kosinski received her
Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts in
Romantique, Paris, 1969; Christopher McIn-
tosh, Eliphas Lavi and the French Occult Re-
1985. Her most recent publication is
vival, New York, 1974; Alain Mercier, Eliphas "Orpheus-das Bild des Kiinstlers bei
Gustave Moreau, " in the catalogue,
Lavi et la pensbe magique au XIXbme siecle,
Gustave Moreau, Kunsthaus, Zurich,
Paris, 1974; Thomas A. Williams, Eliphas
1986. She is currently Curator of The
Lavi: Master of Occultism, University, Alaba-
ma, 1975. Douglas Cooper Collection.
18 L6vi, Fables et symboles (cited n. 17), "Six-
ieme Grand Symbole, Le Temple de l'avenir,"
p. 467.
19 L6vi, La Clef (cited n. 17), p. 33.
1884-1906, 21 volumes; L'Amphithbatre des
sciences mortes, 1891-1911, 7 volumes; Les
Idies et les formes, 1900-01; La Dicadence
isthetique, 1888-1910, c. seventeen volumes.
Concerning PNladan,see: Robert Pincus-Wit-
ten, Occult Symbolism in France: Josiphin
Pbladan and the Salon Rose + Croix, New
York, 1976.
th6atre," Manuscript 13.204, Fonds P6ladan,
Bibliothbquede l'Arsenal, Paris, These manu-
scripts include five versions of the play Terre
d'Orphbe, each differing somewhat in struc-
ture.