The Sultan's Tiger
This painting appears to have been inspired by Victor Hugo’s 1827 poem “La Douleur du pacha” (The Pasha’s Grief). In the poem, a fictional Ottoman potentate forsakes his responsibilities, including his domains and his subjects, owing to implacable sadness: “What’s wrong with this pasha, whom war is calling / And who, sad and dreamy, cries like a woman? . . . / His Nubian tiger has died.”
Artwork Details
- Title: The Sultan's Tiger
- Artist: Benjamin-Constant (Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant) (French, Paris 1845–1902 Paris)
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 80 3/4 x 48 3/4 in. (205.1 x 123.8 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Kenneth Jay Lane, 2017
- Object Number: 2017.202.2
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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Benjamin-Constant (Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant)
Benjamin-Constant (Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant)
possibly ca. 1886
Benjamin-Constant (Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant)
1876
Benjamin-Constant (Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant)
1880
Paul Gauguin
ca. 1892–94
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