Credit Line:
Cornell College, Gift of Robert Sonnenschein II

Accession Year:
1951

Object Number:
1951.08

Commentary:
Gustave Doré was a prolific illustrator and printmaker in France. He started drawing at the young age of 11, and a few years later his work was published in a satirical magazine. His mother pushed his art because it helped the family financially, and eventually sent him on to formal art school. By the end of his lifetime, Doré had illustrated hundreds of home editions of classic novels and had several of his own comics published.

The scene of this drawing was previously thought to be a practical joke, but it seems to have a darker theme. Six figures cloaked in white surround a dressed man, holding his extremities and shining light into his face. A chair is tipped over to the  side of the drawing, in addition to a four poster bed behind the group, together revealing the scene’s interior setting. The placement in a bedroom gives the impression of the man being cornered by the cloaked figures. This scene may be a commentary on hazing, which became popular in men’s societies in 19th century France.

Despite the scene being somewhat ambiguous, there is another Doré drawing with some parallels in the National Gallery’s collection. As with this work, it has a couple of vulnerable figures surrounded by a threatening crowd, although the stakes appear much higher in the Dramatic Scene with a Fainting Woman. SC and KF