Hervé Brunon

A historian of gardens, landscape and ecology, Hervé Brunon (1971, France) is Director of Research at the CNRS (Centre André-Chastel, Paris). A graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, he was a resident at the Académie de France in Rome from 1998 to 2000. At the crossroads of many disciplines (history, art history, philosophy, anthropology, literature, botany, archaeology, etc.), his work is part of the environmental humanities horizon. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Les Carnets du paysage and of the scientific committee of the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche (Treviso). His latest work is Histoire des jardins (Que sais-je?, 2024).

His historical and philosophical investigation focuses on the atmospheric component of the Roman landscape. The singularity of the skies over the Eternal City, their indescribable character, was noted by Goethe and Stendhal. Absorbing oneself in the contemplation of the sky is said to be at the very heart of a certain awareness of being-in-the-world. What is specific – but also universal – about the Roman experience of the sky? To answer this question, he has developed an approach based on the notion of atmosphere, as it has been explored since the “affective turn” reconsidered emotions. This writing project draws on visual studies and climatology, and is in the realm of poetic prose.