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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
Sketch for The Revolt of Cairo, Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson French, Oil and ink on paper, laid down on canvas
On loan to The Met
Sketch for The Revolt of Cairo
Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson
ca. 1810
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Marie Antoinette in a Park, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun French, Black chalk, stumped, and white chalk; framing lines in black chalk
Marie Antoinette in a Park
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
Sitter Marie Antoinette, Queen of France
ca. 1780–81
Portrait of Louis-Francois Bertin, l'ainé, Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson French, Black chalk on off-white wove paper
Portrait of Louis-Francois Bertin, l'ainé
Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson
n.d.
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, Lithograph printed in four colors; three sheets of wove paper
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Printer Affiches Américaines, Charles Lévy
1891

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