← Honoré Daumier

A bit too old to play "Colossus of Rhodes," from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, December 10, 1867

Original title: A bit too old to play "Colossus of Rhodes," from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, December 10, 1867

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

December 10, 1867

Medium

Lithograph on newsprint; second state of two (Delteil)

Dimensions

Image: 9 1/2 × 8 3/16 in. (24.2 × 20.8 cm) Sheet: 12 15/16 × 11 9/16 in. (32.9 × 29.3 cm)

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962

kurzbeschreibung

Unlike conventional allegories of Europe's power games, this 1867 lithograph by Honoré Daumier offers no lofty figure but a visibly weary woman in historical dress seated on a rock. Part of the series 'News of the Day,' it appeared in the satirical journal Le Charivari on December 10, 1867. Printed in the second of two states (Delteil) on newsprint, the caricature targets the flashpoints of the 1860s.

Description

A woman in disheveled historical costume crouches on a boulder inscribed 'QUESTION ITALIENNE'; she holds a stick, her posture conveying fatigue and bewilderment. To one side lies another rock labeled 'QUESTION D'ORIENT.' A suggested landscape with water fills the rear. The layout feels deliberately unbalanced, with flat light and no strong shadows or highlights.

Context

The print emerged during negotiations over the 'Roman Question,' concerning the relationship between the Italian nation-state and the Papal States. Daumier worked regularly for Le Charivari, where political caricature was a staple. The title alludes to the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In the exhausted woman, the perceived deadlock in Italy and the Orient is condensed.

Impact

Comedy and resignation join forces here: the overwhelmed figure brings the political problems not a step further. Disheveled clothing and tired pose undermine the heroic pictorial tradition and expose the impotence of diplomacy. Daumier's line remains precise, giving the scene a realistic quality despite all satirical exaggeration.

Technique

The work was executed as a lithograph on newsprint, in the second of two states (Delteil). The process allows fine lines and hatching typical of Daumier's caricatures. The image area measures 24.2 × 20.8 cm; the print was reproduced as part of a daily newspaper.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)