Dorimel Bidding Farewell to His Wife and Her Parents before His Execution: An Illustration for Le Déserteur by Louis-Sébastien Mercier

The theatre was one of Saint-Aubin's central themes, combining narrative and public spectacle. This small-scale oil sketch illustrates a scene from　Le Déserteur, a drama by the popular playwright Louis-Sébastien Mercier (1740-1814) published in 1770. It was first performed onstage in 1782, two years after Saint-Aubin’s death. This oil sketch, therefore, must relate to the publication of the text, rather than recording a scene from a live performance.　Perhaps it was a design for a frontispiece, although the one included in the book was engraved by Ghendt after a drawing by Marillier and illustrates a different episode.


The scene depicted is set in a small German village near the French border and occurs in the final act of the play. The central character, Dorimel had deserted from the French army seven years earlier.　On the eve of his marriage to Clary, the daughter of Madame Luzère, Dorimel is betrayed by a rival and condemned to death. Pleas for clemency from his fiancée’s family fall on deaf ears and Dorimel is taken into custody the following morning. Saint-Aubin depicts the moment when Dorimel says his final farewell to Clary and her parents.