Apparition du fameux serpent de la rue Lacépède..., from Actualités, published in "Le Charivari"
Original title: Apparition du fameux serpent de la rue Lacépède..., from Actualités, published in "Le Charivari"
kurzbeschreibung
A lithograph by Honoré Daumier from 1858 bears the title "Erscheinung der berühmten Schlange der Rue Lacépède" and makes fun of a Parisian sensation. The sheet appeared in the satirical magazine Le Charivari, where it mocked the overheated mood surrounding an alleged giant snake.
Description
Up front, two men stand talking: on the left one in a top hat holding an object, on the right one with a scarf around his neck. Behind them a dense crowd presses forward, all eyes fixed on a large dark opening that looks like a gullet. Above this opening hovers something birdlike, reminiscent of a duck. Everything stays black and white, with fine hatching and clear contours typical of lithography.
Context
This lithograph was made for the Paris daily Le Charivari, where it was printed on March 18, 1858. The occasion was a rumor about a snake in the Rue Lacépède that set the city buzzing. Daumier often took up such daily events to mock credulity and the appetite for sensation.
Impact
The contrast between the level-headed figures in the foreground and the excited crowd comes across as ironic and pointed. The dark hole and the ducklike creature create a comic tension that brings out the absurdity of the uproar.
Technique
Drawn with greasy chalk on stone and reproduced by the planographic process of lithography, Daumier's line here is precise and expressive; fine hatching provides shadow and texture. The image measures 25.2 × 21.8 cm and is printed on larger paper of 35.7 × 26.7 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)