Mâle, Émile, 1862-1954, French art historian. Mâle pioneered the study of French art of the Middle Ages, its forms, and especially the Eastern sources of sculptural iconography of the cathedrals of France. He was a director of the Académie de France à Rome and a member of the Académie Française. Among Mâle's major works are L'Art religieux du XIIIe siècle en France (1913, tr. The Gothic Image, 1958) and L'Art religieux du XIIe au XVIIIe siècle (1945, tr. 1949).