Square Napoleon, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, November 28, 1870
Original title: Square Napoleon, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, November 28, 1870
kurzbeschreibung
On 28 November 1870, Honoré Daumier's lithograph 'Square Napoleon' appeared in the satirical journal Le Charivari, part of the series 'Actualités'. Four gravestones stand in the foreground, commemorating the dead of the Franco-Prussian War as well as the victims of political repression.
Description
Four gravestones inscribed 'Sédan 1870', 'Lambessa', 'Cayenne' and 'Boulevard Montmartre, deux décembre 1870' occupy the foreground, each marked with a skull. Behind them a city stretches out at night, its buildings set against a dark sky. The top edge carries the label 'ACTUALITÉS' and the number '244'; the title 'SQUARE NAPOLEON' runs along the bottom. Printed in grayscale, the image gives off a sombre mood.
Context
Daumier made the lithograph during the Franco-Prussian War, after the French army's devastating defeat at Sedan. In it he confronts the consequences of the war and the political repression of the Second Empire, for which places like Lambessa and Cayenne stand. The print was published in Le Charivari, a satirical journal known for its political criticism.
Impact
An oppressive, melancholy atmosphere rises from the nighttime setting and the gravestones. Tying concrete place names to dates of death gives the image an immediate, documentary urgency.
Technique
Daumier chose lithography on newsprint, a common process for caricatures in satirical journals. The print survives in the second state of three (Delteil) and was printed in grayscale, which reinforces its bleak effect.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)