Henri Marchal
Encyclopedia
Henri Marchal was a French architect and civil servant. He devoted a great part of his life to research on the art and archeology of Cambodia
and the conservation and restoration of Khmer monuments at the archeological site of Angkor
, in Cambodia.
After his baccalauréat
in 1895, he was admitted to the École des beaux-arts
, section of Architecture
, where he attended the workshop led by Gaston Redon
.
He was appointed Inspector of civilian buildings of Cambodia
in 1905. In 1910 he gained the Khmer language
license and was appointed assistant curator of the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient
(EFEO) Museum in Phnom Penh
. In 1912 he was dispatched to Saigon, as Inspector of civilian buildings of Cochinchina
.
Following the death of Jean Commaille (murdered by bandits while carrying the pay of workers), in 1916 he was dispatched to Angkor
to manage Conservation d'Angkor by EFEO. He resumed the cleaning works on Angkor Wat
and the excavation of main monuments in central Angkor Thom
: Baphuon
, the Bayon
, Phimeanakas
, Preah Pithu
, the Royal Palace ecc.).
In 1919 Henri Marchal was appointed permanent member of EFEO and "Curator of Angkor".
Then he began also excavation and cleaning of other monuments outside Angkor Thom: Ta Prohm
(in 1920), Preah Khan
, Neak Pean
, Phnom Bakheng
(1922–29), Prasat Kravan
(with Henri Parmentier and Victor Goloubew) and Banteay Srei
among others.
In 1930 he went to Java
to learn the principles of anastylosis
from the archeological service of the Dutch East Indies, aware of the limits of the consolidation methods used previously in Angkor. Upon his return, he decided to apply the method of anastylosis
for the first time in Angkor on the temple of Banteay Srei
. The restoration was unanimously applauded as success.
In 1933 he left the Conservation d'Angkor office to replace Henri Parmentier as Chief of the archaeological service of EFEO, but he reassumed the charge of Curator of Angkor from 1935 to 1937 (because of the tragic suicide of Georges Trouvé) and again from 1947 (replacing Maurice Glaize
) to 1953. At that time he was more than seventy-five years old and in an interview on The New York Times
said «the work is getting too hard for me»!!!
In the meantime in 1938, on the way back to France, he visited India and Ceylon, which he described in Souvenirs d'un Conservateur, and before returning to Angkor he led an archeological mission in Arikamedu
(called Virampatnam by the French), near Pondicherry.
From 1948 to 1953 he directed restoration works on the buildings located along the west roadway of Angkor Wat, the Baphuon (1948), Banteay Kdei
, Preah Khan and Thommanon
(1950). From 1954 to 1957 he was appointed technical advisor of historical monuments and Chief of Department of Public Works of the newly formed Kingdom of Laos
.
His love for Angkor and Khmer civilization is testified by his settling in Siem Reap
after his retirement, in 1957, until his dead in 1970.
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
and the conservation and restoration of Khmer monuments at the archeological site of Angkor
Angkor
Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara , meaning "city"...
, in Cambodia.
After his baccalauréat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
in 1895, he was admitted to the École des beaux-arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
, section of Architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, where he attended the workshop led by Gaston Redon
Gaston Redon
Gaston Redon was a French architect, teacher, and graphic artist. Redon was born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine to a prosperous family, the younger brother of Odilon Redon. Gaston attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the atelier of Louis-Jules André, and took the Prix de Rome for architecture in 1883...
.
He was appointed Inspector of civilian buildings of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
in 1905. In 1910 he gained the Khmer language
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
license and was appointed assistant curator of the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient
École française d'Extrême-Orient
The École française d'Extrême-Orient is a French institute dedicated to the study of Asian societies. Translated into English, it approximately means the French School of the Far East. It was founded in 1900 with headquarters in Hanoi in what was then French Indochina. After independence, its...
(EFEO) Museum in Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
. In 1912 he was dispatched to Saigon, as Inspector of civilian buildings of Cochinchina
Cochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
.
Following the death of Jean Commaille (murdered by bandits while carrying the pay of workers), in 1916 he was dispatched to Angkor
Angkor
Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara , meaning "city"...
to manage Conservation d'Angkor by EFEO. He resumed the cleaning works on Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu,...
and the excavation of main monuments in central Angkor Thom
Angkor Thom
Angkor Thom , located in present day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by king Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those...
: Baphuon
Baphuon
The Baphuon is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia. It is located in Angkor Thom, northwest of the Bayon. Built in the mid-11th century, it is a three-tiered temple mountain built as the state temple of Udayadityavarman II dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. It is the archetype of the Baphuon style...
, the Bayon
Bayon
The Bayon is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th century or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom...
, Phimeanakas
Phimeanakas
Phimeanakas or Vimeanakas at Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu temple in the Khleang style, built at the end of the 10th century, during the reign of Rajendravarman , then rebuilt by Suryavarman II in the shape of a three tier pyramid as a Hindu temple...
, Preah Pithu
Preah Pithu
Preah Pithu , or Prah Pithu, is a group of five temples at Angkor, Cambodia.-The site:They're located in Angkor Thom, north-east of the Bayon, in front of Tep Pranam. The temples are near but they weren't built in the same period, except for two of them, so there is no apparent order. They're...
, the Royal Palace ecc.).
In 1919 Henri Marchal was appointed permanent member of EFEO and "Curator of Angkor".
Then he began also excavation and cleaning of other monuments outside Angkor Thom: Ta Prohm
Ta Prohm
Ta Prohm is the modern name of a temple at Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara...
(in 1920), Preah Khan
Preah Khan
Preah Khan , sometimes transliterated as Prah Khan, is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII. It is located northeast of Angkor Thom and just west of the Jayatataka baray, with which it was associated. It was the centre of a substantial organisation,...
, Neak Pean
Neak Pean
Neak Pean at Angkor, Cambodia is an artificial island with a Buddhist temple on a circular island in Preah Khan Baray built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII...
, Phnom Bakheng
Phnom Bakheng
-See also:* Angkor* Architecture of Cambodia* List of archaeoastronomical sites by country-References:* Goloubev, Victor. Le Phnom Bakheng et la ville de Yasovarman. Bulletin de l'EFEO , 33 : 319-344....
(1922–29), Prasat Kravan
Prasat Kravan
Prasat Kravan is a small 10th century temple consisting of five reddish brick towers on a common terrace, located at Angkor, Cambodia south of the artificial lake or baray called Srah Srang. Its original Sanskrit name is unknown. The modern name in Khmer, "Prasat Kravan", means cardamom temple...
(with Henri Parmentier and Victor Goloubew) and Banteay Srei
Banteay Srei
Banteay Srei or Banteay Srey is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia. It lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, north-east of the main group of temples that once belonged to the medieval capitals of Yasodharapura and Angkor Thom...
among others.
In 1930 he went to Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
to learn the principles of anastylosis
Anastylosis
Anastylosis is an archaeological term for a reconstruction technique whereby a ruined building or monument is restored using the original architectural elements to the greatest degree possible...
from the archeological service of the Dutch East Indies, aware of the limits of the consolidation methods used previously in Angkor. Upon his return, he decided to apply the method of anastylosis
Anastylosis
Anastylosis is an archaeological term for a reconstruction technique whereby a ruined building or monument is restored using the original architectural elements to the greatest degree possible...
for the first time in Angkor on the temple of Banteay Srei
Banteay Srei
Banteay Srei or Banteay Srey is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia. It lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, north-east of the main group of temples that once belonged to the medieval capitals of Yasodharapura and Angkor Thom...
. The restoration was unanimously applauded as success.
In 1933 he left the Conservation d'Angkor office to replace Henri Parmentier as Chief of the archaeological service of EFEO, but he reassumed the charge of Curator of Angkor from 1935 to 1937 (because of the tragic suicide of Georges Trouvé) and again from 1947 (replacing Maurice Glaize
Maurice Glaize
Maurice Glaize was a French architect and archeologist, Conservator of Angkor from 1937 to 1945.-Early years: education, wedding, war and professional experiences:...
) to 1953. At that time he was more than seventy-five years old and in an interview on The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said «the work is getting too hard for me»!!!
In the meantime in 1938, on the way back to France, he visited India and Ceylon, which he described in Souvenirs d'un Conservateur, and before returning to Angkor he led an archeological mission in Arikamedu
Arikamedu
Arikamedu is an archaeological site near Pondicherry, southern India, where Mortimer Wheeler conducted his best-known excavation in the 1940s. According to Wheeler, Arikamedu was a Tamil fishing village which was formerly a major Chola port dedicated to bead making and trading with Roman traders...
(called Virampatnam by the French), near Pondicherry.
From 1948 to 1953 he directed restoration works on the buildings located along the west roadway of Angkor Wat, the Baphuon (1948), Banteay Kdei
Banteay Kdei
Banteay Kdei , meaning "A Citadel of Chambers", also known as "Citadel of Monks' cells", is a Buddhist temple in Angkor, Cambodia. It is located southeast of Ta Prohm and east of Angkor Thom...
, Preah Khan and Thommanon
Thommanon
Thommanon is one of a pair of Hindu temples built during the reign of Suryavarman II at Angkor, Cambodia. This small and elegant temple is located east of the Gate of Victory of Angkor Thom and north of Chau Say Tevoda. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed by UNESCO in 1992...
(1950). From 1954 to 1957 he was appointed technical advisor of historical monuments and Chief of Department of Public Works of the newly formed Kingdom of Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
.
His love for Angkor and Khmer civilization is testified by his settling in Siem Reap
Siem Reap
Siem Reap is the capital city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia, and is the gateway to Angkor region.Siem Reap has colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old French Quarter, and around the Old Market...
after his retirement, in 1957, until his dead in 1970.
Selected works
- 1924-26 - "Les portes monumentales du groupe d'Angkor", AAK 2/1, p. 1-26, pl., ph.
- 1924-26 - "Notes sur le Palais Royal d'Angkor ThomAngkor ThomAngkor Thom , located in present day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by king Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those...
", AAK 2/3, p. 303-328.
- 1925 - "Pavillons d'entrée du Palais Royal d'Angkor Thom", in Études asiatiques (2), Paris, EFEO/G. van Oest (PEFEO 20), p. 57-78, pl. 32-41.
- 1937 - "Kutîçvara » et « Notes sur les Terrasses des Éléphants, du Roi lépreux et le Palais Royal d'Angkor Thom", BEFEO 37/2, p. 333-360.
- 1939 - La collection khmère, (Musée Louis FinotLouis Finot (archeologist)Louis Finot was a French archeologist and researcher, specialising in the cultures of Southeast Asia. A former director of the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, his contribution to the study of Khmer history, architecture and epigraphy is widely recognised.A bachelor of law and letters, Finot was...
), Hanoi, EFEO, 170 p., 13 pl.
- 1948 - L'architecture comparée dans l'Inde et dans l'Extrême-Orient, Paris, G. van Oest, 262 p.
- 1951 - Le décor et la sculpture khmers, Paris, G. van Oest, 135 p.
- 1957 - Le Temple de Vat PhouVat PhouVat Phou or Wat Phu is a ruined Khmer temple complex in southern Laos. It is located at the base of mount Phu Kao, some 6 km from the Mekong river in Champasak province. There was a temple on the site as early as the 5th century, but the surviving structures date from the 11th to 13th centuries...
, province de Champassak, Saigon, edited by département des Cultes du Gouvernement royal du Laos, 37 p.