HOLYROOD
Holyrood, oil on cotton, parchment glue, steel frame, one wide-beam projector at the front, one wide-beam projector and two directional projectors at the rear, 270 x 310 cm, 2026, programmation 13 minutes. Multi-directional LED spotlights, pre-programmed on structures placed in front of and behind the canvas.
The Diorama was conceived in accordance with the instructions Daguerre had transmitted to the French state in Historique et description des procédés du daguerréotype et du diorama.
Background:
The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel, Louis Daguerre, oil on canvas, 1824
Effect of Fog and Snow through a Gothic Colonnade in Ruins, Louis Daguerre, oil on canvas, 1826
Foreground:
Trees: Entry of the Animals into Noah’s Ark, Roelandt Savery (1576–1639)
Figures: Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525–1569)
Flowers and Fruits: Balthasar van der Ast (1594–1657)
On the reverse of the painting:
The Beggars or The Cripples, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1568
The ruins of the Holyrood’s Chapel (Louis Daguerre, oil on canvas, 1824) appear in the background. The Gothic columns intertwine and surround the scene in an effect of fog and snow passing through a ruined Gothic colonnade painted by Daguerre. A bird crosses the space and passes beneath the arches, leaving clouds behind it.
On the ground, figures, a heron, and flowers can be seen. Painted respectively by Bruegel, Savery, and van der Ast, they stand upon a still life: a bouquet with vibrant colours and shimmering reflections. An immersive installation combining painting and light, the Diorama presents the audience with an image that changes according to the lighting. Details visible when the canvas is illuminated from the front may transform when it is backlit. In this way, a daytime landscape can become a nighttime scene. The wings of a bird may begin to move.
