Painter and researcher, Christoff Baron is currently exhibiting at the Chapelle de la Miséricorde, in Saint-Tropez, until the end of October. A fascinating exhibition in which he introduces the public to his paintings dedicated to the French card game. A game of cards which, according to his research, contains the greatest blasphemy in the history of Christianity, everyone having one day had these famous cards in their hands. An incredible and historic discovery that he shares with us…
Jérôme Goulon: To begin, can you tell us about yourself?
Christoff Baron: I have been a painter for around thirty years. I was a literature teacher. This is an important detail, because my creations are nourished by literature.
Tell us about your news. Are you exhibiting in Saint-Tropez?
I have an exhibition at the Chapelle de la Miséricorde, in Saint-Tropez. It is a chapel that has been closed for decades, and there are people who are only discovering it now, after 50 years of living in Saint-Tropez. There is a mass on Friday, and the Bishop of Var, Monseigneur Rey, supports my work and offers to exhibit in this chapel, with the complicity of Father Gouarin, the abbot of Saint-Tropez. I am exhibiting a series of works created for Strasbourg Cathedral in 2019. These are large formats of 3 to 4 meters. I am therefore a resident artist in this chapel. I try to make the clergy aware of the fact that artists can be facilitators of opening places that we close. Entrusting the keys of a church to an artist who has a connection with the subject is interesting…
Is religion a subject that speaks to you?
Yes. The religious subject is a very important subject, which is constantly denigrated. What matters to me is passing on my culture. And most works created before the 20th century cannot be understood without biblical codes. This is something that worried me a lot. I have a religious culture and education, even if I do not define myself as a religious person. And I work more and more with churches, because I believe that the loss of the biblical corpus is very damaging.
You said in an interview that you are “haunted by the fact that everything can be forgotten and disappear. » This fear of oblivion motivates your work?
That's quite right. In fact, what worries me is deculturation, cutting the individual off from his past. Today, people are brainless consumers, who have no perspective. In front of my exhibition in Saint-Tropez, I also put up two panels. One saying “Dior”, the other saying “God”. Saint-Tropez is an amusement park dedicated to money, and sometimes people are a little shocked, so I tell them that Jesus, in one of the gospels, says: “We cannot serve as a master, we will love the one and we will hate the other. Likewise, you cannot serve God and Mammon.” Knowing that Mammon is the God of money in the Bible.
You are currently exhibiting large format card games. Quite intriguingly, you state that behind French card games lies blasphemy…
Absolutely ! It's a huge scoop, it's the research part of my activity, which is the main part. In fact, I discovered that these cards, which appeared in the 15th century, were created as a huge blasphemy. I go even further: the French card game contains the greatest blasphemy in the history of Christianity. The French card game is widespread throughout the world, everyone knows it. It has become an object of world culture. And everyone has several blasphemies in their hands or in their drawers from childhood. It's stunning. It's the most famous work of art in the world, and no one realized it was a work of art.
Blasphemy in the 15th century, you had to dare…
Yes. Profanity is very subtle. In the 15th century, blasphemy was very, very dangerous. All the symbols that identify the faces of the cards have a function. It is an exceptional work of thought. I am also about to send a proposal to create a museum to the town of Montmorillon, which is very interested, because in a deconsecrated chapel in Montmorillon lies the author of the French card game who is identified.
Concretely, how is the French card game blasphemous?
This is a huge scoop. I don't know if one interview can be enough to explain everything, but I'll give you an example. There is a great blasphemy, which concerns the four ladies. When you take the four queens of the French card game, which have names, you realize that one of the four queens does not have a flower. And it turns out that this is the problematic card of the French card game, because among the twelve figures, it is the figure in the name that does not exist. This is the queen of clubs, whose name is Argine. In fact, Argine is an anagram of Regina. And Regina, in the 15th century, is directly the Virgin Mary. And of the four ladies, Argine is the only one who does not wear a flower. And why ? Because she lost her flower. It is an attack on Mary's virginity.
Do you have any other clues to validate this theory?
Yes. When you look closely, the other three ladies have a relationship with virginity. Palace, or Pallas Athena, the queen of spades is the virgin Goddess. Judith, the lady of hearts, is a young Jewish widow who beheaded Holofernes at the end of a night which we do not know if it was conclusive. Whether her husband, before dying, deflowered her, we do not know. So there is a question about her virginity. And Rachel, the queen of diamonds, is Jacob's wife in the Bible, and she is barren. Which raises the question of whether her husband is having sex with her. So she ends up late in having children, Joseph then Benjamin, and she will die from Benjamin's childbirth. And so she officially loses her virginity when she gives birth to Joseph, and if you look closely at the queen of diamonds in the French card game, she has dropped her flower, a symbol of the late loss of virginity.
Was it when you discovered this story of blasphemy that you decided to do an exhibition on the theme of cards?
I had already exhibited cards during an exhibition in Berlin in 2010, with the central theme of the figures of the card game. The game is a staging of power with no impact on reality, unless you bet. It was therefore an exhibition on the staging of power through gambling, and the perversion of power through money and finance. And then I discovered that the cards had names, which I hadn't noticed until then. And very quickly, a problem arose with this figure whose name does not exist, Argine. As a researcher, I have a lot of intuition, and this seemed very curious to me. I put that in the background in my head. And two years ago, when I had my first exhibition in Saint-Tropez, I had some large format maps that I had left from a previous exhibition, and I deepened my research. We realize that the French card game is a jewel of our culture that is totally ignored, but which will come to light, I hope very soon.
For those who want to know more, until when can we come see you in Saint-Tropez?
My exhibition lasts until the end of October. Those who are interested can come to me and ask for a full demonstration of this blasphemy. You should allow 45 minutes. It's extremely complex, you have to be concentrated: it explores mythology, history, the Bible, literature...
A final word?
The French card game is the embodiment of my attachment to culture. It shows how important culture is. In a group, mastering culture allows you to express your freedom. In the 15th century, people were subject to a church with an undeniable totalitarian dimension. And in the 15th century, a man will express his rage and his disapproval through his culture. I find this astonishing. Besides, another scoop that I'll give you: the French deck of cards includes the most famous self-portrait in the world, except that no one knows it. The Jack of Hearts, Lahire, is in fact a portrait of Étienne de Vignolles, who represented himself. He was the comrade-in-arms of Joan of Arc, whom he loved. And he created the French card game against the church, because he was angry with the church for burning Joan of Arc…
Discover the Christoff Baron exhibition at the Chapelle de la Miséricorde (Saint-Tropez)
