Départ pour le sabbat (Departure for the Sabbath)
1895
Medium
etching and aquatint in black on heavy japan paper
Dimensions
plate: 12 x 6.3 cm (4 3/4 x 2 1/2 in.) sheet: 37.2 x 27.9 cm (14 5/8 x 11 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Virginia and Ira Jackson Collection, gift in memory of Virginia H. Jackson
Accession Number
1996.151.68
Art Historical Context
Félicien Rops' *Départ pour le sabb (Departure for the Sabbath)*, created in 1895, the artist's fascination with the macabre and the occult during the fin-de-siècle era. A Belgian Symbolist and Decadent, Rops was renowned for his provocative prints blending eroticism, satire, and supernatural themes, often drawing from literary influences like Charles Baudelaire. This intimate etching and aquatint executed in black on luxurious heavy japan paper, depicts a fantastical procession evoking witches' rites—a motif rooted in folklore and Rops' "Sataniques" series, reflecting late 19th-century Europe...
About the Artist
Félicien Rops · 1833–1898
Félicien Rops, born Félicien Victor Joseph Rops on July 7, 1833, in Namur, Belgium, to a prosperous textile manufacturing family, displayed prodigious artistic talent from youth. The only child of Nicholas Rops and Sophie Maubile, he received private tutoring until age ten, followed by education at a Jesuit school in Namur (1843–1848), the Athénée Royal de Namur, and the Academy of Fine Arts there...