| Mr. François Poncet, on the occasion of the fiftieth centenary of the University of Poitiers, commissioned the painter Pierre Girieud to decorate the hall of the University Council.
On the way the artist has understood his mission, and on the achievements of his work, Mr. Gabriel Mourey has just given, in the Avenir de la Vienna, very interesting clarifications. Mr. Gabriel Mourey, after recalling that Girieud is Provençal, adds: "Landscaper to the broad and fine vision, to the subtle and manly profession, it is only beauties of his native country that Girieud wanted to be the interpreter. the Mediterranean landscapes attract and exalt him, and it is with a freshness of sensibility always renewed, a spontaneity of execution always as alive as for years, every summer, he returns to plant his easel in front of the face of this nature animated by the gods, in order to add to the hymn of admiration and love which he has dedicated to her, a stanza of lus, richer in meaning and more perfect, more expressive and more luminous. "
As a decorator, Mr. Pierre Girieud had his proofs before the war: in the area of ??Pradines du Vaucluse, he painted a fresco on the walls of the chapel of Saint-Pancrace, a remarkable Adoration of the Magi. Once adopted, in agreement with the minister and the rector of the University, the themes of its composition, Girieud set to work, and it is in the fever of the creative enthusiasm, but without losing a moment control of himself - he is far too accustomed to disciplining himself for that! - that he composed the series of sketches which all those who have had before them agree to praise the nobility and grandeur, and the mixture of familiarity and lyricism that is the hallmark of the great designers and that Puvis de Chavannes wore so high.
This set includes in all nine panels. The first four, of equal size and intended to cover, separated by pilasters, the wall that faces the windows, each measure three meters wide by four meters high. Legislation is represented by Lycurgus and the Spartan Oath. The Beautiful Letters by Homer among the Shepherds; Medicine by Aesculapius at Epidaurus; Science by Pythagoras and his school.
The large panel (seven meters by four), intended to adorn the wall pierced by a door which, perpendicularly, is to the left of the windows, is dedicated to the glory of the University of Poitiers (1431-1931) and group, in front of a landscape where stands the baptistery Saint-Jean, Sainte-Radegonde, the cathedral and Our Lady the Great, the most glorious characters of the history of Poitiers: Saint-Hilaire, Fortunat, Saint Radegonde and Agnes, Charles VII and the Duke of Berry, Bacon, Ronsard, Du Bellay, Rabelais, Saint Martha, etc. Above the door, the University sits, the wall crown in the head, clasping his arms, under the folds of his wide cloak, two figures symbolizing the Past, overwhelmed by the weight of his experience, and the Future, who, with his head held high, looks up to heaven.
To the right and to the left of the monument to the dead, facing the large panel that I just described and which is pierced by two doors, the painter decided to represent the Victories and Sorrows, Charles Martel and Joan of Arc.
Mr. Gabriel Mourey had the opportunity to contemplate, in the painter's studio, not only the many studies that Mr. Girieud made from nature for the eighty characters that appear in his decorations, but also the panel currently completed Spartan Oath, which this good judge says the greatest good |