​Places, Arts, Cultures: Naval Visions of an 18th-Century Artist. A Case of SEA TELLING

The three-dimensional translation of vessels and decorative details designed by Pierre Ozanne (1737–1813) stands at the intersection of digital modeling for cultural heritage and the latest practices in disseminating geographical knowledge related to territories. While storytelling fulfills the general need to narrate events and objects, and placetelling focuses on the identity narrative of land-based places, this project experiments with the dimension of seatelling: a narrative and dissemination practice centered on the sea—conceived not as an empty space, but as a territory rich in stories, people, artifacts, and geopolitical relationships. Within this methodological framework, the study of an unpublished or unexecuted work ceases to be a mere technical-formal analysis, transforming into a narrative engine capable of connecting the material dimension of naval engineering with 18th-century cultural geography.

​The core of the project lies in the demonstrative 3D reconstruction of decorative proposals taken from a volume of sketches that Ozanne—celebrated draftsman and engineer for the French Marine Royale—submitted to the admiral. Prominent among these plates are extraordinary designs for figureheads and stern decorations, conceived to innovate the aesthetics of naval warships through bold and ingenious sculptural schemes. However, these proposals met with favor neither from the Navy nor from the King, remaining uncarved in the shipyards. Today, three-dimensional vector modeling makes it possible to redeem these paper-bound concepts, restoring formal and spatial presence to visual solutions that allow us to analyze the evolution, shift, and persistence of artistic canons in late 18th-century European battle fleets.

​Through the interpretive lens of seatelling, the 3D model and its accompanying narrative unveil the distinctly geopolitical significance of period naval decoration. Figureheads and sculpted friezes were not merely aesthetic choices; they served as powerful tools of propaganda and assertions of French maritime supremacy. A warship functioned as a mobile theater of power: its decorative program had to eloquently communicate national hegemony, strength, and prestige, making the balance of power among European nations immediately clear across global routes. Recreating these sketches in 3D thus means reconstructing a geography of Enlightenment ideas and territorial ambitions, showing how even an unbuilt design embodied a precise vision of governing maritime space.