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This thesis examines interest in the visual arts by patrons of Scottish descent, active in France, c.1445 to c.1545: the Monypenny family, Bérault and Robert Stuart d'Aubigny, and John Stuart, Duke of Albany. During this period the Auld Alliance played a key role in relations between Scotland and France, and large numbers of Scots travelled to France as mercenaries, scholars, and diplomats. Many relocated to France permanently and were granted letters of naturalisation. This thesis argues that an examination of the visual arts commissioned by this group of patrons enhances our understanding of the integration of Scots into French society at this time. It explores how the visual arts reflected, and were used to advance their careers, social standing, and spheres of influence, broaching issues of identity and power relations. The investigation explores how artistic patronage was a vital method by which a patron could express his social identity and aspirations. Examining patronage enables the historian to acquire a greater understanding of the patron's priorities and ambitions, and allows the art historian to situate works of art in a historical framework, thus gaining a clearer understanding of their meanings. This research is important as it covers a large corpus of works that, although linked by the unusual circumstances of their patrons, have not previously been studied together. As the artistic patronage of Scots in France during this period has hitherto not been examined, it cannot be assumed that the same priorities and influences that shaped French patrons during this period also shaped the patronage examined in this study. This thesis demonstrates that in many instances the Scottish heritage of these patrons was instrumental in shaping their demands, and thus the finished work of art. The study of the patronage of the visual arts in France has become a vibrant area of research. Yet the patronage of non-native communities, such as Scots in France, remains largely unstudied. This thesis shows that there is a rich diversity of visual material, both extant and documented, which may be associated with these Scots. Furthermore, it demonstrates how examining a patrons career may provide interesting insights into their works of art; and it shows how discovering biographical details about the patrons permits a more complete reconstruction of the circumstances in which works of art were made, displayed, and understood. Whilst comparatively little visual material survives in Scotland from this period, an examination of the visual arts commissioned by Scots in France tells us a great deal about Scots' relationships to the arts at this time, and their use of works of art as a means of 'self fashioning'. This research has uncovered exciting new information regarding all patrons investigated. Furthermore, it has identified Bremond Domat, a previously unrecognised artist working for John Stuart, Duke of Albany, to whom a small, but important, body of work may unambiguously be attributed.

Hippolyte Bellangé a connu une longue carrière qui s’est étendue de la Restauration au Second Empire. Après avoir exposé ses premières peintures au Salon de 1822, cet élève de Jean-Antoine Gros s’impose rapidement dans le milieu comme l’un des principaux chantres de la légende napoléonienne. Élevé en pleine gloire et effervescence du 1er Empire, il appartient à une génération d’artistes qui, au lendemain de Waterloo, va transposer dans son œuvre toute une palette de mélancolie et de nostalgie envers cette rutilance passée, tout autant entraperçue que fantasmée. Le succès de Bellangé, fortement corrélé à un contexte propice à la propagation de la légende napoléonienne, donne un aperçu intéressant sur les évolutions de l’opinion publique d’une part, et des attitudes politiques d’autre part, vis-à-vis de la figure de Napoléon Bonaparte. Ses œuvres se caractérisent en outre par l’application qu’il met dans l’évocation et la description du quotidien. Son installation à Rouen lui donne notamment l’occasion de créer une iconographie renouvelée de la campagne normande. Homme public et artiste aux multiples facettes, sa carrière a par ailleurs été marquée par son activité de conservateur du musée des Beaux-arts de Rouen. Ce parcours pluridisciplinaire nous offre un champ d’étude remarquable et une documentation précieuse sur la carrière et le statut des artistes du milieu du XIXe siècle. L’analyse de la vie et de l’œuvre d’Hippolyte Bellangé, resituées dans leur contexte politique, nous offre enfin l’occasion de questionner les notions d’art engagé, d’art populaire et d’art patriote dans les années qui ont suivi le 1er Empire. / Hippolyte Bellangé had a long career that extended from the Restoration to the Second Empire. After exhibiting his first paintings at the Salon of Paris in 1822, this disciple of Jean-Antoine Gros quickly established himself in the artistic environment as one of the main promoters of the Napoleonic legend. Raised during the full glory and effervescence of the First Empire, he belonged to a generation of artists who, the day after Waterloo, transposed into their work a whole palette of melancholy and nostalgia towards that past glow they half-caught a glimpse of, half-fantasized about. Bellangé's success, which was strongly correlated to a context that was supportive to the spread of Napoleonic legend, gives an interesting insight into the evolution of public opinion on the one hand, and political attitudes on the other, towards the figure of Napoleon Bonaparte.His works are also characterized by the application he puts into the evocation and description of everyday life. His moving to Rouen gave him the opportunity to create a renewed iconography of the Norman countryside. Simultaneously a public figure and a multifaceted artist, his career has also been marked by his position as curator of the Musée des Beaux-arts of Rouen. This multidisciplinary background definitely offers a remarkable field of study and a valuable documentation on the careers and the status of artists in the mid-nineteenth century. The analysis of the life and work of Hippolyte Bellangé, reviewed in their political context, finally gives us the opportunity to question the notions of committed art, popular art and patriotic art in the years following the First Empire.