La situation de l'Italie, from Actualités, published in Le Charivari, February 21, 1859
Original title: La situation de l'Italie, from Actualités, published in Le Charivari, February 21, 1859
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier’s 1859 lithograph shows Italy as a reclining woman with a spear, a child at her side. It appeared in the satirical magazine Le Charivari as part of the Actualités series. This is a print on newsprint, second state of three.
Description
A woman stretches out on her back, holding a spear; she wears simple traditional clothing and a flowered head covering. A child lies beside her in a helpless, exhausted pose, and her gaze is fixed on the child. Lines of text in the background recall newspaper reports. The layout is centralized, the light evenly distributed, and the style caricatural and humorous.
Context
The print was made on the eve of the Sardinian War, when France and Sardinia-Piedmont fought against Austria. Daumier commented on Italy’s political situation in his satirical series for Le Charivari. The female allegory of Italy was a common device in nineteenth-century caricature.
Impact
The woman’s passive, lying posture and the exhausted child are immediately oppressive. The caricatural exaggeration gives the political comment an ironic edge that prompts reflection.
Technique
Daumier used lithography on newsprint, a process typical of the satirical press of the time. The drawing is black-and-white with clear lines and fine hatching that precisely capture details such as fabric folds and facial features.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)