Faire le fou. L’art des bouffons dans l’Europe moderne

Résumé Fr En

Ce colloque entend étudier les bouffons, nains et fous européens comme des artistes de cour paradoxaux, exclus des arts nobles et de notre idée du patrimoine classique, mais pleinement intégrés à une culture spectaculaire et artistique moderne. L’objectif sera de questionner les relations entre performance artistique, distinction sociale et handicap dans l’Europe moderne.

The jester is a paradoxical figure: a subordinate included in elite social circles. Thus, he is an outsider, albeit a remarkably proficient one. Jesters, comprising fools, dwarfs, and other “monsters” – both men and women, often with disabilities – are itinerant, travelling from one court to another or from the precursors of psychiatric hospitals to the realms of royalty. The conference aims to scrutinise the competition between artists and jesters, with the latter frequently obtaining more stable patronage than poets and painters. Our goal is to establish the status of jesters between subalternity and disability, applying the methodologies of historical anthropology, social history, and art history.