Lot Essay
This drawing is preparatory for Chassériau's engraving of the ninth plate of the series of Othello (fig. 1), J.M. Fisher, op. cit., p. 91, illustrated.
The circumstances surrounding the commission of the engravings are not very clear. According to Léon Bénédite the commission came from Eugène Piot in 1844. Piot was the editor and publisher of Le Cabinet de l'Amateur et de l'Antiquaire and a friend of many artists of the period. Chassériau made fifteen plates and a frontispiece for Othello, but due to the small size of the edition, the prints were relatively unknown during the 19th Century. Another edition was reprinted in 1900.
Chassériau had produced only four prints and two lithographs before undertaking the Othello series, which, according to Bénédite, took him two months to complete. The technique of the prints is very sophisticated, Chassériau combined aquatint, burnishing, sulphur tint, engraving, drypoint and roulette to build up the image.
Shakespeare's plays were particularly popular in Paris around the middle of the century, and Othello was probably the best known. The play was translated by Alfred de Vigny and Rossini's famous opera was performed in Paris in 1821. Chassériau was certainly inspired by Rossini's opera; indeed he is said to have used Maria-Felicia Malibran, the celebrated soprano, as his model for Desdemona
Although the drawing is close to the print, Chassériau was less specifically illustrating any precise moment in the final work. The drawing shows the moment when Desdemona, playing the lute, is distracted by a noise which she thinks to be a knock on the door. Emilia, her servant, looking through the windows claims it to be the wind. The print shows Desdemona restlessly sitting on her chair. J.M. Fisher, op. cit., p. 92, records sixteen preparatory drawings for this print, most of them for the pose of Desdemona. A very sketchy drawing in the Louvre precedes this drawing; it differs most notably in the figure of Emilia who looks at Desdemona rather than through the window. The composition was inspired by a lost picture by Delacroix dated circa 1825 and recorded by A. Robaut, L'oeuvre complet de Eugène Delacroix, Paris, 1885, no. 116.
The circumstances surrounding the commission of the engravings are not very clear. According to Léon Bénédite the commission came from Eugène Piot in 1844. Piot was the editor and publisher of Le Cabinet de l'Amateur et de l'Antiquaire and a friend of many artists of the period. Chassériau made fifteen plates and a frontispiece for Othello, but due to the small size of the edition, the prints were relatively unknown during the 19th Century. Another edition was reprinted in 1900.
Chassériau had produced only four prints and two lithographs before undertaking the Othello series, which, according to Bénédite, took him two months to complete. The technique of the prints is very sophisticated, Chassériau combined aquatint, burnishing, sulphur tint, engraving, drypoint and roulette to build up the image.
Shakespeare's plays were particularly popular in Paris around the middle of the century, and Othello was probably the best known. The play was translated by Alfred de Vigny and Rossini's famous opera was performed in Paris in 1821. Chassériau was certainly inspired by Rossini's opera; indeed he is said to have used Maria-Felicia Malibran, the celebrated soprano, as his model for Desdemona
Although the drawing is close to the print, Chassériau was less specifically illustrating any precise moment in the final work. The drawing shows the moment when Desdemona, playing the lute, is distracted by a noise which she thinks to be a knock on the door. Emilia, her servant, looking through the windows claims it to be the wind. The print shows Desdemona restlessly sitting on her chair. J.M. Fisher, op. cit., p. 92, records sixteen preparatory drawings for this print, most of them for the pose of Desdemona. A very sketchy drawing in the Louvre precedes this drawing; it differs most notably in the figure of Emilia who looks at Desdemona rather than through the window. The composition was inspired by a lost picture by Delacroix dated circa 1825 and recorded by A. Robaut, L'oeuvre complet de Eugène Delacroix, Paris, 1885, no. 116.