Hélène

Hélène

Item Information

Title:
Hélène
Description:
In the center of the composition, Helen lies naked on a white drapery. Her head is raised and held slightly by the finger of her left hand. She faces forward and her eyes are lost and full of dreams. Around her is a crowd of men who are charmed by her beauty. They are all geniuses and of all ages - a warrior wearing a helmet, a poet with a laurel head, a bald philosopher, a scholar who meditates, a painter who draws, an old man who lies down in adoration. Faust is standing on the left and beside him, in the foreground, is Mephistopheles. A cupid flies away and an adolescent angel, whose head is only visible, arrives from the left. The scene takes place in an elevated landscape. There is a curtain of trees that serve as the background. The pale disc of the moon shines above. On the right is an immense horizon where the waters of a winding river is seen. (Subject freely borrowed from Goethe's second Faust)
Artist:
Fantin-Latour, Henri, 1836-1904
Name on Item:
H. Fantin
Date:
1890
Format:
Prints
Genre:
Lithographs
Location:
Boston Public Library
Arts Department
Collection (local):
Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904). Lithographs and Other Prints
Subjects:
Fictitious characters
Queens
Angels
Faust (Legendary character)
Mephistopheles (Legendary character)
Helen, of Troy, Queen of Sparta
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/6w92bk216
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Notes:
Title from catalogue raisonné.
Hédiard: H. 95
Additional information accompanying item: Margins note rectified. Second state - with the name "Imp. Lemercier et Cie, Paris." Edition of 25 impressions. Stone destroyed. Executed in 1890. Reproduced in "le Gratin," of Grenoble, in Nov. 1890, and in "l'Estampe et l'Affiche" of Feb. 1898. This impression is signed and dedicated to Mr. Pigeon.
Notes (acquisition):
Gift; Albert H. Wiggin; 1949
Notes (date):
Date from catalogue raisonné.
Notes (citation):
Hédiard, Germain. "Fantin-Latour : catalogue de l'oeuvre lithographique du maître, précédé d'une étude par Germain Hédiard et d'une notice sur Germain Hédiard par Léonce Bénédite." Librairie de l'art ancien et moderne, 1906, Paris.
Notes (object):
Second state.
Identifier:
17_10_000307
Barcode:
36666003797251