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The Vampire

1853
Not on view
Meryon was plagued by mental illness and spent the last years of his brief life in an asylum. The dark, gothic tenor that characterizes many of his prints has been interpreted as symptomatic of his tumultuous life. This print, taken from his album Eaux-fortes sur Paris, shows a grotesque gargoyle from Notre-Dame Cathedral against an aerial view of the expanding French capital. Surrounded by a flock of darkly colored birds, the sculpture takes on a menacing, monstrous appearance, especially as it dominates the right half of the composition. Meryon added a verse of his own creation to this later state of the print, describing the figure as an "insatiable vampire, eternal lust" who "covets its food in the great city." The artist continued to revise the plate over the course of a decade, producing a total of ten states of the etching before his untimely death in 1868.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Vampire
  • Series/Portfolio: Etchings of Paris (Eaux-Fortes sur Paris)
  • Artist: Charles Meryon (French, 1821–1868)
  • Date: 1853
  • Medium: Etching in brown ink on green laid paper; fifth state of ten
  • Dimensions: Plate: 6 5/8 x 5 1/16 in. (16.9 x 12.8 cm)
    Sheet: 10 1/2 x 7 7/8 in. (26.7 x 20 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.107.108
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Etchings of Paris; Title page to the suite, Charles Meryon French, Etching on brown wove paper; first state
Etchings of Paris; Title page to the suite
Charles Meryon
1852
La Loi Solaire, Charles Meryon French, Etching
La Loi Solaire
Charles Meryon
19th century
Presentation of Valerius Maximus to King Louis XI, Charles Meryon French
Presentation of Valerius Maximus to King Louis XI
Charles Meryon
1862
Rue des Toiles, Bourges, Charles Meryon French, Etching with drypoint; eighth state of eight
Rue des Toiles, Bourges
Charles Meryon
1853
An Old House, or The Musician's House, Bourges, Charles Meryon French, Etching with drypoint; fifth state of five
An Old House, or The Musician's House, Bourges
Charles Meryon
1860

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