Author(s):
monnier, henry bonaventure (paris, 07–06–1799 - paris, 03–01–1877 — 3–6–1877), designer
delpech, françois seraphin (orléans, 1778 - 1825), designer-lithographer
other title: little human miseries (title of the series)
dating in century: 19th century
type(s) of object(s): graphic arts, print
name(s): print
materials and techniques: vellum paper, watercolor, lithography
dimensions - artwork:
height: 22. 4cm
width: 28. 9cm
dimensions - image:
height: 17. 4cm
width: 15. 5cm
description:
colored print
marks, inscriptions, hallmarks:
title of the work - above the image: little human miseries
legend - under the image: old age. Infirmities, abandonment, solitude, selfishness
inscription concerning the author - under the image on the left: henry monnier under the image on the right: i. Lith de delpech
iconographic description:
an old man wrapped in his dressing gown, scarf and hat is dozing in a very richly furnished living room. The walls are adorned with gilded frames containing portraits. Stylish armchairs and large hangings, a globe placed on a console, a beautiful mirror, a chest of drawers, various trinkets fill the room. Actor, playwright and designer, henry monnier helped illustrate la comédie humaine. His engravings of administrative morals, and especially his play scenes from bureaucratic life, clearly inspired balzac for his novel la femme supérieure, renamed les employés. The same references to the morals of their time often inspired the two artists in parallel on numerous subjects as we can see in the following extract: "after the death of ursule mirouët, his wife, from 1789 to 1813, the doctor, appointed consulting physician to the emperor in 1803, must have earned a lot of money, but no one knew his fortune; he lived simply, with no other expenses than those of a year-round car and a sumptuous apartment; he never entertained and almost always dined in town. His governess, furious at not accompanying him to nemours, told zélie levrault, the postmaster's wife, that she knew the doctor had fourteen thousand francs in income in the ledger. Now, after twenty years of practicing a profession that included the titles of chief physician of a hospital, physician to the emperor and member of the institute. Made it so lucrative, these fourteen thousand pounds of income, the fruit of successive investments, represented at most one hundred and sixty thousand francs in savings!” [excerpt from ursule mirouët, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
social subject, customs, old man, domestic interior, various objects
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal91. 99. Unknown date
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