Currently not on view
Polichinelle,
1876
Édouard Manet, 1832–1883; born and died Paris, France
x1977-118
At the Salon of 1874, Manet exhibited a watercolor of the popular commedia dell’arte figure Polichinelle that resembled General Patrice de MacMahon, the recently elected president of France. In 1871, MacMahon had led the military executions of suspected participants in the Paris Commune. Manet created a color lithograph after his watercolor intending to distribute 1,500 copies in the Republican journal Les Temps, but government sensors halted publication after only twenty-five proofs, including this impression. Manet’s friend, the poet Theodore de Banville, provided the lines at the base of the caricature. In English it reads: "Fearsomely pink, eyes glinting with the glare of Hell,
Brazen and drunk—divine—that’s him, Polichinelle."
Brazen and drunk—divine—that’s him, Polichinelle."
Information
Title
Polichinelle
Dates
1876
Maker
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
image: 42.8 x 30.9 cm. (16 7/8 x 12 3/16 in.)
sheet: 48.1 x 31.7 cm (18 15/16 x 12 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Object Number
x1977-118
Inscription
signed in stone, l.r.: Manet
Reference Numbers
Guerin 79; Harris 80
Culture
Type
