Ramboux. Between art and art history
Copying as a creative processs
In Ramboux’s lithographs the figures undergo a stylization that can be traced back not just to the models of mainly medieval frescoes, but was also conditioned by technical considerations. The composition however was determined by Ramboux alone. It was he who decided what details should be represented together. For instance, in the lithograph of the Dream of Pope Gregory IX two of the servants are placed so close together in the sheet that the impression is created of the physical closeness of the figures. Moreover, they are copied only to their upper torso and in part cut off by the outer margin, as a result of which their posture and actions are rendered incomprehensible. In the lithograph of Perugino’s Adoration of the Magi Ramboux faithfully copied the composition of the figural group to the right. In a second sheet however he diverged from his model: Joseph here is placed closer to Mary and the Child. A third lithograph shows a standing figure placed directly beside the two kneeling kings. Here the lines intersect, and the painter in addition places part of the Christ Child in the lower half of the picture to the left. Ramboux thus deconstructed the composition, selected the parts of it he wanted to privilege and arranged the details anew. In another case he copied two heads of Mary from different art works on the same sheet and thus encouraged the observer to view them in a comparative way. In other sheets he lithographed series of heads, which all look in the same direction and in their arrangement recall Leonardo’s grotesque heads. Ramboux‘s new compositions of figures from different frescoes that in part overlap, as for example in his cycle on Saint Louis transcend the copying process in the pure sense. In his own compositions Ramboux found connections, which reveal not only didactic intentions, but also a creatively artistic dialogue with his models.
Dream of Pope Gregory IX, Ramboux after Giotto di Bondone and workshop, Assisi, San Francesco, Upper Church, Legends of St. Francis; gouache and watercolour over pencil on paper, 47.8 x 42.8 cm; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, inv. no. R 74
Two Heads from the Dream of Pope Gregory IX, Ramboux after Giotto di Bondone and workshop, Assisi, San Francesco, Upper Church, Legends of St. Francis; from: Umrisse, I-12-060, KHI Bibliothek, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Got. zu, inv. no. 616135
Sleeping Servant from the Dream of Pope Gregory IX, Giotto di Bondone and workshop, Assisi, San Francesco, Upper Church, Legends of St. Francis; KHI Photothek, Mal. Got., inv. no. 442183, photo by Andrea Gaspare De Giovanni (1971)
Two Heads from the Dream of Pope Gregory IX, Ramboux after Giotto di Bondone and workshop, Assisi, San Francesco, Upper Church, Legends of St. Francis, pencil on paper, Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie; KHI Photothek, Z. Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 357708
Adoration of the Magi, Perugino, Trevi, Santa Maria delle Lacrime; KHI Photothek, Mal. Ren., inv. no. 6658, photo by Giovanni Gargiolli (before 1906)
Male heads from the Adoration of the Magi, Ramboux after Perugino, Trevi, Santa Maria delle Lacrime; from: Umrisse, II-49-245, KHI Library, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 616381
Mary and Joseph with the Child from the Adoration of the Magi, Ramboux after Perugino, Trevi, Santa Maria delle Lacrime; from: Umrisse, II-49-243, KHI Bibliothek, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 616379
Detail of Three Heads from the Adoration of the Magi, Ramboux after Perugino, Trevi, Santa Maria delle Lacrime; from: Umrisse, II-50-246, KHI Bibliothek, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 616382
Madonna and Child, Saints and Angels, Benozzo Gozzoli, Montefalco, San Fortunato; KHI Photothek, Mal. Ren., inv. no. 130250, photo by Sansoni (before 1941)
Madonna and Child, Ramboux after Benozzo Gozzoli, Montefalco, San Fortunato; from: Umrisse, II-41-204, KHI Bibliothek, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 616340
Angels, Ramboux after Benozzo Gozzoli, Montefalco, San Fortunato; from: Umrisse, II-41-204, KHI Bibliothek, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 616340
Saints Francis and Bernardino of Siena, Ramboux after Benozzo Gozzoli, Montefalco, San Fortunato; from: Umrisse, II-41-206, KHI Bibliothek, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 616341
Two Heads of Mary, Ramboux after Segna da Buonaventura and after Rinaldo da Siena; from: Umrisse, II-28-137, KHI Bibliothek, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 616207
Male Heads in Profile from the Madonna della Misericordia, Ramboux after Ottaviano di Martino Nelli, Urbino, Chiesa della Madonna dell’Homo; from: Umrisse, II-40-199, KHI Bibliothek, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 616273
Male Heads from the Scenes of John the Baptist, Ramboux after Lorenzo and Giacomo Salimbeni, Urbino, Oratorio di San Giovanni Battista; from: Umrisse, II-40-197, KHI Bibliothek, Sign. H 4559 u (RARO); KHI Photothek, Graphik Mal. Ren. zu, inv. no. 616271
Heads from the Scenes on the Life of St. Louis from the Cappella dei Priori, Ramboux after Benedetto Bonfigli, Perugia, Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, formerly Palazzo dei Priori
Adoration of the Magi, Perugino, Trevi, Santa Maria delle Lacrime; KHI Photothek, Mal. Ren., inv. no. 6658, photo by Giovanni Gargiolli (before 1906)
