Lourdes, l'imploration devant la Grotte (4e planche) (Lourdes, Imploring before the Grotto) (fourth plate)
1912/1913
Medium
etching on blue laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 29.7 × 26 cm (11 11/16 × 10 1/4 in.) sheet: 44.2 × 29.4 cm (17 3/8 × 11 9/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.3871
Art Historical Context
Jean-Louis Forain, a prominent French artist associated with Impressionism and later Realism, captures a moment of profound devotion in *Lourdes, l'imploration devant la Grot (4e planche)*, created around 1912–1913. This etching pilgrims imploring before the famous Lourdes grotto in southern France, site of Bernadette Soubirous's 1858 visions of the Virgin Mary. As the fourth plate in a series, it reflects Forain's evolving interest in religious themes during his later career, shifting from his earlier satirical scenes of Parisian life to contemplative spiritual subjects amid Europe's pre-Worl...
About the Artist
Jean-Louis Forain
Jean-Louis Forain was born Louis Henri Forain on October 23, 1852, in Reims, France, to a family of modest means; his father painted ornamental signs. The family relocated to Paris when he was eight, where young Forain developed a passion for drawing inspired by the sculptures of Reims Cathedral and the masters at the Louvre, which he began copying at age fourteen. He received drawing lessons from...