Olivier Bonfait
Art historian and Professor at the University
Space and frieze against surface and group
(...) the author of the cartoon, François Bonnemer, a pupil of Le Brun, has brought the group of figures closer to the foreground, thus eliminating the effect of distance and separation introduced by the circle and diamond designs on the tiled floor. When he prepared this scene, Poussin envisaged it in the fearful mysteries of a night-time vision with ghostly illuminated figures to evoke the supernatural power of the biblical God. Whereas Bonnemer’s cartoon, made under the direction of Le Brun, seeks to soften the theory of figures, and to make the effect less dramatic. This approach is taken further in the weaving: the light area of the Egyptian priests’ clothing links the groups on the right and left, whose heads are uniform, and whose expressions can be clearly understood.
(...) In the painting, the austere appearance of the majestic background wall, accentuated by the symmetry of the curtain, serves to echo the words of Moses, and, with the rigour of its perspective, transforms the space in which the narrative takes place into a tragic location, similar to Barthes’ conception of the Racinian antechamber (...).
In the tapestry, the architectural decorations such as the gold fringes of the green hanging as well as the opening in the centre, create an effect of illusion and reduce this frons scenae to a majestic setting, but one which is epic.