Author(s):
monnier, henry bonaventure (paris, 07–06–1799 - paris, 03–01–1877 — 3–6–1877), designer
senefelder et cie, designer-lithographer
gihaut frères, publisher
dating in century: 19th century
type(s) of object(s): graphic arts, print
name(s): print
materials and techniques: lithography, vellum paper, watercolor
dimensions - artwork:
height: 35. 7cm
width: 26cm
dimensions - image:
height: 23. 2cm
width: 19cm
description:
colored print
marks, inscriptions, hallmarks:
title of the work - under the image: have mercy on the dogs
inscription concerning the author - under the image on the left: henry monnier
author inscription - below the image on the right: lith de senefelder
registration concerning the proof - under the image, under the title: chez gihaut frères, editeurs. Iconographic description:
a destitute woman wanders in the street, her bundle of laundry under her arm. In the background a bourgeois buys a treat at a stall and hands the cake to a little dog who is acting handsome. 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: "it occurred to me that charity should not consist of throwing money at those who were suffering. Providing charity, according to the vulgar expression, often seemed to me to be a kind of bounty given to crime. I began to study this question. I was then fifty years old, and my life was more or less over. To what end. Am i good? i asked myself. To whom will i leave my fortune? when i have richly furnished my apartment, when i have a good cook, when my existence is properly secured, what will i use my time for? [excerpt from the other side of contemporary history, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
subject of society, morals, poverty - misery, dog, shop = store
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal98. 63. Unknown date
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