Lot Essay
Possibly a reduced version of the picture exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1846 no. 1602
The subject of this work derives from Goethe's Faust and shows Faust and Marguerite in the garden of Martha, Marguerite's neighbour. While the young couple stroll hand in hand, Mephistopheles and Martha look on:
Mephistopheles. They lightly flit and stray like butterflies.
Martha. He seems her way inclined.
Mephistopheles. And she no less for him, you'll find: That is the world's old way.
The subject of this work derives from Goethe's Faust and shows Faust and Marguerite in the garden of Martha, Marguerite's neighbour. While the young couple stroll hand in hand, Mephistopheles and Martha look on:
Mephistopheles. They lightly flit and stray like butterflies.
Martha. He seems her way inclined.
Mephistopheles. And she no less for him, you'll find: That is the world's old way.