Le mea culpa du boucher, from Actualités, published in Le Charivari, March 19, 1858
Original title: Le mea culpa du boucher, from Actualités, published in Le Charivari, March 19, 1858
kurzbeschreibung
A butcher kneels in his own shop and makes a public confession of guilt. Honoré Daumier took up this subject in a lithograph published in Le Charivari on 19 March 1858. Printed on newsprint, the sheet belongs to the genre of caricature and survives in the second of two states.
Description
Down in front, a heavy-set man in shirt and trousers drops to his knees and buries his face in his hands; shame and despair are written into his posture. A woman in a long dress stands behind him, her gaze on a table of cut meat, while more meat hangs on the wall. The room plainly reads as a butcher's shop. Worked in stepped tones of grey under even light without hard shadows, the monochrome print sharpens the expressions of those involved through its caricatural streak.
Context
From 1833 onward Daumier contributed regularly to the satirical journal Le Charivari, including the Actualités series. The lithograph appeared under Napoleon III, when strict censorship often allowed political and social allusions only in veiled form. What specifically prompted Daumier to make this sheet is not recorded; he often accompanied social grievances with an ironic undertone.
Impact
The contrast between the muscular body and the helpless gesture lends the penitent butcher something comic while also prompting reflection. Everyday surroundings and exaggerated emotion fall into tension, which draws a smile.
Technique
The lithograph was printed on newsprint, as was usual for mass distribution in Le Charivari. The process allows fine lines and soft shading, from which the grey tones emerge. The present impression is the second state of two, as recorded in Delteil's catalogue raisonné.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)