{"id":77048,"date":"2025-10-13T04:59:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T04:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/77048\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T04:59:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T04:59:17","slug":"musee-dorsay-puts-manet-on-mock-trial-for-obscenity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/77048\/","title":{"rendered":"Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay Puts Manet on (Mock) Trial for Obscenity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAt the 1863\u00a0Salon des Refus\u00e9s\u2014a special exhibition for works rejected by Paris\u2019s official Salon\u2014\u00c9douard Manet<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0D\u00e9jeuner sur l\u2019herbe\u00a0provoked intense controversy. Many critics labeled its female nude indecent, wondering why Manet would dare to represent a non-mythological woman casually picnicking alongside two fully clothed men. Some were scandalized by what they called the model\u2019s gaze, which meets her viewer\u2019s, while others condemned the way Manet wielded his paint, viewing the rawness of his strokes as sign that the work was unfinished and crude in execution.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\n\tSome, including the writers Charles Baudelaire and \u00c9mile Zola, immediately rose to Manet\u2019s defense, celebrating the painting as modern icon it is now considered to be today. But what if history took a different path, and Manet and his model Victorine Meurent were dragged to court for offense to public morality and decency? The Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay in Paris brought that scenario to life last week as part of its\u00a0Orsay Live\u00a0program, which is designed for audiences aged 18 to 25.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe mock trial, held last Thursday evening in the museum\u2019s auditorium, brought together students from the\u00a0F\u00e9d\u00e9ration fran\u00e7aise de D\u00e9bat et d\u2019\u00c9loquence, three lawyers\u2014including one acting as prosecutor\u2014and a sitting judge. The idea for the event came from\u00a0Sylvain Amic, the former president of the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay and the Mus\u00e9e de l\u2019Orangerie, who died last August<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe wanted to partner with the Fondation des Femmes to address major social issues, particularly feminism,\u201d said deputy director Virginie Donzeaud, who had been working on the project with him since last February. \u201cThere is something about a mock trial that is both engaging and appealing to younger audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOther cultural institutions, including Versailles and Marseille\u2019s Mucem, have also experimented with the format, but the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay was determined to respect the rules of an actual trial. \u201cIt\u2019s not a performative lecture,\u201d Donzeaud said. \u201cThere are real lawyers, pleading for and against the defendants,\u201d in addition to students performing as witnesses.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe idea of a mock trial is both interesting and enriching, as it allows art and law\u2014two worlds that seem to be opposed at first glance\u2014to enter into dialogue,\u201d Julie de Lassus Saint G\u00e9nies, a lawyer who is an expert on intellectual property and attended the event, said in an interview. Those worlds are \u201conly seemingly opposed, however, because disputes over freedom of expression and, by extension, artistic creation have always been numerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tA detail of D\u00e9jeuner sur l\u2019herbe.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMondadori via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tCarla Tom\u00e9, head of cultural programming at the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay, said the toughest part of conceiving the event wasn\u2019t respecting the law and art history. \u201cThere were mostly girls who wanted to participate at first,\u201d she noted. \u201cHaving only women portray a majority of men would have been a bit too much.\u201d To help solve the problem, the museum ended up writing parts that brought to life figures such as Suzanne Leenhoff, Manet\u2019s partner, so that Victorine was no longer the only female speaker of the trial.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe role of Manet, however,\u00a0did end up being assumed by a female student: Maria-In\u00e8s Le Loarer Doniz. \u201cI will give you a more sensitive and less confident Manet than one might expect,\u201d she told ARTnews a few hours before stepping on stage. She explained that she listened to podcasts about Manet and read many of his early letters to understand his journey and his motivations. \u201cWe don\u2019t really know much about his character, so my approach is very personal. Beyond Manet himself, I am embodying what it means to create\u2014whether centuries ago or today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHer text, along with others, was reviewed by Manet specialist and curator Isolde Pludermacher to ensure historical and artistic accuracy. While Manet\u2019s and Baudelaire\u2019s speeches turned out perfectly on point, Zola\u2019s intervention required more caution. Zola did not write\u00a0J\u2019accuse\u00a0(an open letter defending Captain Alfred Dreyfus against the corruption and antisemitism of the French military and government) until 1898, more than 25 years after the D\u00e9jeuner sur l\u2019herbe scandal. This meant that the trial couldn\u2019t totally rely upon the letter as insight into how Zola spoke\u2014his tone and style were likely very different in 1863. And yet, the student starring as Zola took the liberty of slipping that one \u201cJ\u2019accuse\u201d into his speech, which was just enough to make the audience laugh.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe trial as a whole was far from lacking in humor. The prosecutor also alluded to\u00a0J\u2019accuse\u00a0by repeating \u201cJe r\u00e9cuse\u201d (\u201cI challenge\u201d) in his opening statement. He jokingly referred to Manet as the \u201cfirst Instagrammer and clickbait artist,\u201d accused him of \u201cManet-pulation,\u201d and even compared him to a \u201cSarkozy offspring\u201d\u2014Jean Sarkozy (President Nicolas Sarkozy\u2019s son), who, like Manet, had dropped out of law school.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay mock trial involved real lawyers.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay<\/p>\n

\n\tJudge Val\u00e9rie Dervieux repeatedly interjected with asides, highlighting the irony of a woman judging another woman: \u201cWhen you think about it, it will be several years before a woman can become a magistrate.\u201d She also quipped, \u201cApplaud, or I\u2019ll have the room cleared.\u201d The audience rose respectfully both to welcome her and when she briefly withdrew to deliberate. \u201cIn this way, the mock trial gave a fairly faithful idea of a real trial and allowed individual personalities to stand out,\u201d said de Lassus Saint G\u00e9nies. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe museum adhered to the traditional order of the court proceedings. \u201cAs in a real criminal trial, the defense attorneys spoke last,\u201d said de Lassus Saint G\u00e9nies. However, the expected hearing of witnesses and their cross-examination did not occur, in order to allow participants to deliver their historically accurate speeches and be judged on their oratory skills. De Lassus Saint G\u00e9nies added: \u201cPersonally, I would have appreciated an alternation between speeches and interrogations, which would have added theatricality to the trial and, in my view, would not have hindered eloquence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJust like in an actual trial, a variety of perspectives were presented. Victorine Meurent asserted her right to nudity and, more broadly, to women\u2019s emancipation. Her lawyer, played by Louise B\u00e9riot, argued the absence of any material offense: while the face in the painting may indeed be that of her client, the body may not be hers after all. Zola and Courbet vigorously contested artistic harassment and censorship. \u201cThe question of the limits of artistic freedom was very skillfully raised by my colleague [Florent Loyseau] who, qua Attorney General, offered a hilarious analysis of Manet\u2019s alleged paternal complex,\u201d de Lassus Saint G\u00e9nies said.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the end, while Dervieux was deliberating, Nordine Morchid, the student acting as Charles Baudelaire, won the public\u2019s vote for the most convincing speech. \u201cIf an offense is clearly established, a judge cannot disregard a law that does not suit them. It is, however, in the sentencing that they can express disapproval or understanding, which is exactly what the President did,\u201d said de Lassus Saint G\u00e9nies. \u201cAfter declaring the offense of public outrage proven, she instructed Manet to conduct himself by continuing to paint!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the 1863\u00a0Salon des Refus\u00e9s\u2014a special exhibition for works rejected by Paris\u2019s official Salon\u2014\u00c9douard Manet\u2019s\u00a0D\u00e9jeuner sur l\u2019herbe\u00a0provoked intense…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60,6789,50522],"class_list":["post-77048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-musu00e9e-dorsay","tag-u00c9douard-manet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}