The Duel after the Masquerade

Localisation : The Isabelle Room
Année de création :1857
Artiste :Jean Léon Gérôme

Description

This painting depicts the tragic aftermath of a masquerade, the result of a duel where the guest disguised as Pierrot collapses in the arms of his witnesses while his adversary, disguised as an Amerindian, having dropped some feathers on the snow, leaves the scene, accompanied by a Harlequin. A scene with almost identical characters was depicted in the same year by Thomas Couture, in a painting held in London (Wallace Collection). Both historical painters were practising genre painting, which in this case borders on sensationalism: several duels that took place in the Bois de Boulogne following masquerades had made the headlines at that time. Are the commedia dell’arte characters authentic or do they highlight the absurdity of the tragedy? The Duke of Aumale, who was close to Gérôme, acquired the painting after his exhibitions at the 1857 Salon in Paris, and then in London.