Arsène Houssaye (28 March 1815 – 26 February 1896) was a French novelist, poet andman of letters. His 1879 bookDes destinées de l'âme is notable for having beenbound in human skin.
Houssaye was born inBruyères (Aisne), nearLaon; his original surname was Housset.[1]
In 1832 he found his way to Paris, and in 1836 he published two novels,La Couronne de bleuets andLa Pécheresse. He had many friends in Paris, among themJules Janin andThéophile Gautier, and he wrote in collaboration withJules Sandeau. He produced art criticism inL'Histoire de la peinture flamande et hollandaise (1846); semi-historical sketches inMlle de la Vallière et Mme de Montespan (1860) andGalerie de portraits du XVIII siècle (1844); literary criticism inLe Roi Voltaire (1858) and his famous satiricalHistoire du quarante et unième fauteuil de l'Académie française, dealing with notables who failed of election to the French Academy[2] (1855); drama in hisComédiennes (1857); poetry in hisSymphonie de vingt ans (1867),Cent et un sonnets (1873), etc.; and novels,Les Filles d'Eve (1852) and many others.[1] He was long editor ofL'Artiste and for some years was editor and proprietor ofLa Presse.[citation needed]
In 1849, through the influence of the actressRachel, he was entrusted with the administration of theTheâtre Français, a position he filled with unfailing tact and success until 1859, when he was made inspector general of fine art.[1][3]
In 1863, when excavating the site of the chapel of Saint-Florentin at the Chateau d'Amboise in the Loire Valley, he found a partially-complete skeleton and stone fragments bearing the inscription 'EO [...] DUS VINC'. The unusually large skull led Houssaye to conclude he had located the remains ofLeonardo, which were re-interred in the chapel of Saint-Hubert at the same chateau.[4] Reflecting doubts about the attribution, a plaque above the tomb states that the remains are only "presumed" to be those of Leonardo. In 2016, it was announced that DNA tests were to be conducted to investigate the veracity of the attribution, with results expected in 2019.[5]
HisConfessions, souvenirs d'un demi-siècle appeared in 1885–91. See alsoJ. Lemaître,Arsène Houssaye (1897), with a bibliography.[1]
He died in Paris. His sonHenry was a noted historian.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Houssaye, Arsène".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 827–828.
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