Jean-Baptiste Marot's Painted Backdrops for Rohmer's 'L'Anglaise et le duc'

Jean-Baptiste Marot created 36 trompe-l'œil oil paintings for Éric Rohmer's 2001 film 'L'Anglaise et le duc', depicting Revolutionary-era Paris. The technique, inspired by matte painting, involved oil on canvas in near-16:9 format, digitized by Buf Cie and composited with live-action footage shot on Betacam digital. Marot's practice blends classical painting with conceptual approaches, exploring volume, perspective, and the viewer's position. His earlier works include scenographic installations at Musica Strasbourg and Théâtre Varia Brussels, and sets for Stéphane Braunschweig at Théâtre de l'Odéon. Tests for the film were conducted with cinematographer Diane Baratier and Olivier Dumont of Buf Cie, using a green screen and a video mixer to combine painted streets with actors. Marot researched period engravings from Musée Carnavalet, paintings by Corot and Hubert Robert, Marville's photographs, and IGN maps. The film's visual approach echoes 19th-century panoramas, blending pictorial illusion with material reality. The exhibition 'Tableaux pour le cinéma' at Espace Commines (Paris, 21-29 September 2001) presented these painted spaces, evoking subjective memory.