Les porteurs de mauvaises nouvelles (The Bearers of Bad Tidings), from "Le Monde Illustré"
Engraver Emile Thomas French
After an intermediary drawing by Albert Duvivier French
After Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ French
Not on view
The weekly newspaper "Le Monde Illustré" published this full-page reproduction of a painting by Lecomte du Nouÿ in 1872. The French State had acquired the painting after it was exhibited at the Paris Salon that year. Based on the novel "Le Roman de la Momie" (1858) by Théophile Gautier (1811–1872), the composition focuses on the pharaoh's reception of unwelcomed news brought by three hapless messengers whom he has killed for failing to locate the woman of his affection. The artist began work on the subject before traveling to Egypt in 1865.