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Comedy and Tragedy

1814
Not on view
After his coronation in 1804, Napoleon remodeled former royal residences all across France. He commissioned Girodet to rework the apartments at the Château de Compiègne. This drawing is for a border of the library ceiling. It incorporates major figures of French literature—Molière, Racine, and Corneille—as stone busts in whimsical juxtaposition to the Greek muses of comedy (Thalia) and tragedy (Melpomene), envisioned as children to align this scene with the rest of the design, which presents pairs of allegorical putti. The sinuous outline and subtle modeling of Girodet’s distinctive technique in black chalk produce a trompe l’oeil effect suggesting marble statuary.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Comedy and Tragedy
  • Artist: Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson (French, Montargis 1767–1824 Paris)
  • Date: 1814
  • Medium: Black chalk and stumping
  • Dimensions: 9 1/4 x 12 1/2 in. (23.5 x 31.8 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Karen B. Cohen Fund, 2003
  • Object Number: 2003.5
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Dibutade's Daughter Tracing a Profile
Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson
H. Dupont
early 19th century
Portrait of Marie-Philippe Coupin de La Couperie
Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson
Godefroy Engelmann
1816
Head of Young Man, Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson French, Crayon-manner engraving
Head of Young Man
Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson
Noël Bertrand
1826
Eloquence
Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson
Godefroy Engelmann
first half 19th century
Portrait of Marie-Philippe Coupin de La Couperie
Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson
Godefroy Engelmann
1816

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