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for Baissez le rideau, la farce est jouée
Baissez le rideau, la farce est jouée
Creator
Honoré Daumier
(French, 1808 - 1879)
Date1834
Mediumlithograph on paper
DimensionsSheet: 27.3 × 36.1 cm (10 3/4 × 14 3/16 in.)
Mat: 40.6 × 54.6 cm (16 × 21 1/2 in.)
Mat: 40.6 × 54.6 cm (16 × 21 1/2 in.)
Credit LinePurchase, 1972
Category
- Prints
Object number71/369
ProvenanceThis is one of the more famous attacks Daumier made on the King of France in the mid 1830s. The clown occupying the foreground is a representation of the King. His facial expression and body are grotesque. He points to the figure of Justice in the opposite corner of the print. In the history of visual arts, representations of the allegory of Justice most often show the personified figure with a blindfold covering her eyes, in order to indicate that Justice is not biased. However, in Daumier’s lithograph, the scales in Justice’s hand are uneven, because the King of France held all the powers, despite his suggestion that the governing body (which he termed the Juste-Milieu) would serve the people. Thus, Justice is corrupted since the clown (King) has played a trick on her. Meanwhile, the deputies in the background are inconsequential as the curtain is about to be lowered, and accordingly, their presence is undermined. It was a common practice for Daumier to bring out the parallels between politics and the theater in his prints. The caption refers to words mentioned by the French humanist and author Francois Rabelais.
LocationNot currently on display
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