Nationality
French
Artist Dates
1808-1879
Title of Work
Preview
Date of Work
1869
Medium
Lithograph
Signature
Initialed in the lithographic stone.
Identification #
2016.001.0950
Height
13"
Width
11 1/2"
Collection/Provenance
Art & Design Study Collection
Status
Stored: Lilly Jacobson Collection Box 15
Location
UND Art Collections Repository
Additional Information
De Charybde en Scylla, 1869
English: Scylla and Charybdis
Lithograph, published in Le Charivari, initialed in the lithographic stone
Purchased with funds from the Myers Foundations
University Art Collections: Art & Design Study Collection
Dating the year before the Franco-Prussian war, the print references Greek mythology. A rowboat (Europe) tries to navigate between the hazardous shores of Scylla and Charybdis. Marianne (symbol of France) handles the oars. Inscribed on Scylla’s cliffs is the “question of Germany” and on Charybdis’ cliffs the “question of the Orient” (referring to the Ottoman Empire). Daumier’s use of visual metaphors alludes to real dangers that France faced during the last years of the Second Empire. Indeed, Germany and France began a war the next year, which France lost.