The declaration of Damocles, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, March 25, 1870
Medium
Lithograph on newsprint; second state of two (Delteil)
Dimensions
Image: 9 3/8 × 8 1/16 in. (23.8 × 20.4 cm) Sheet: 11 5/16 × 11 5/16 in. (28.8 × 28.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Edwin De T. Bechtel, 1957
Accession Number
57.650.512
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the sharp-witted world of 19th-century French satire *The Declaration of Damocles*, aograph published in the iconic newspaper *Le Charivari* on 25, 1870. Created by Honoré Daumier alongside collaborators Arnaud de Vresse, Walterères, and politician Emile Ollivier, this captures the turbulent political climate of the Second French Empire. Daumier, a master caricaturist, often used his bold lines to skewer the powerful, and here the title evokes the Sword of Damocles—symbolizing imminent peril hanging over those in authority. Printed on newsprint in its second state (as cataloged by D...
About the Artist
Arnaud de Vresse|Walter Frères|Honoré Daumier|Emile Ollivier (French|French|French) · 1808 |1800 |1856 –1879 |1900 |1870
French, Marseilles 1808–1879 Valmondois|Paris|