Brought to Ruin

Chapter 3 examines the impact of biblical archaeology on the production and reception of the Doré Bible, arguing that the recuperations of historical fragments are consistent with broader societal anxieties. Questions surrounding the Bible’s historical credibility (propelled by Enlightenment rationalism) prompted new, ostensibly scientific investigations of biblical sources and sites. Archaeological excavations in the Middle East and North Africa revealed fragments of ancient pasts that engendered new approaches to the representation of biblical subjects. These fragments, the often problematic manner in which they were appropriated into Doré’s illustrations, and the popular reception of the images reveal a distinct anxiety about the narratives of biblical civilizations and what they presage about the present and future. The illustrations speak to the circumstances of French interests and the status of the nation in an era wrought by repeated revolutions that seemed as potentially catastrophic as the events of the Bible.