Baptiste Moisan

Baptiste Moisan (1991, France) studied at the University of Grenoble Alpes, the Università degli Studi di Roma Tre, and the École du Louvre. He is currently a doctoral student at the University of Burgundy Europe in Dijon. His dissertation, supervised by Olivier Bonfait (École du Louvre, University of Burgundy) and Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen (École normale supérieure), focuses on the representation of the flesh in 17th-century Italian sacred painting. His research interests include art history, reception theory, the sensory dimension evoked by visual and haptic allusions, and ritual interactions with images.

Baptiste Moisan’s research project focuses on a series of chapels in which sculptures and paintings interact, thereby blurring the boundaries between these two mediums. In these chapels, where crucifixions are often depicted, the figures of saints are painted, while a sculpted Christ on the cross is placed against the painting. Despite this break in artistic style, the painted figures interact with the sculpted one, pointing toward it or attempting to touch it. His research therefore aims to shed light on the conceptual, theological, and devotional issues raised by such an “embodiment” of the holy or Christ-like figure, and to understand the “production of presence” generated by these arrangements.