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Dramatic Scene with Monks in a Crypt

Not on view
In this scene evocative of the Middle Ages, monks process into a Gothic crypt bearing a corpse in an open casket. At the moment they enter the stagelike space, their brethren, having opened a tomb to receive the body, discover that it is already occupied, sparking a dramatic stir. The precise literary source for this composition, believed to date to the 1820s, continues to elude scholars, but the ghoulish scenario was a staple for Fragonard and his contemporaries. The painter is today overshadowed by his father, Jean Honoré Fragonard, but he was one of the most versatile and sought-after artists of his generation.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Dramatic Scene with Monks in a Crypt
  • Artist: Alexandre Evariste Fragonard (French, Grasse 1780–1850 Paris)
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 28 5/8 x 35 7/8 in. (72.7 x 91.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Whitney Collection, Gift of Wheelock Whitney III, and Purchase, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. McVeigh, by exchange, 2003

  • Object Number: 2003.42.30
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Don Juan and the Commander's Statue (Last Scene of Mozart's Don Giovanni), Alexandre Evariste Fragonard French, Graphite, pen and brown ink, watercolor, heightened with gum arabic
Don Juan and the Commander's Statue (Last Scene of Mozart's Don Giovanni)
Alexandre Evariste Fragonard
ca. 1825–30
La Douce Reverie, Alexandre Evariste Fragonard French, Etching
La Douce Reverie
Alexandre Evariste Fragonard
Fréderic Cazenave
1793–1843
Napoléon, Emperor of the French, Alexandre Evariste Fragonard French, Etching and engraving on laid paper
Napoléon, Emperor of the French
Multiple artists/makers
1811
Marie Louise, Empress of the French, Alexandre Evariste Fragonard French, Etching and engraving on laid paper
Marie Louise, Empress of the French
Multiple artists/makers
1811
Vase (vase gothique Fragonard) (one of a pair), Alexandre Evariste Fragonard French, Hard-paste porcelain decorated in polychrome enamels, gold, gilt bronze, French, Sèvres
Vase (vase gothique Fragonard) (one of a pair)
Multiple artists/makers
manufactured 1832, decorated 1844

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