Le Cauchemar (The Nightmare), published in "La Caricature"
Not on view
The marquis de Lafayette, famous for his participation in the American Revolution, had aspired to head the French government during the days of the July Revoution of 1830. He eventually agreed to give up his republican aspirations and support Louis-Philippe as king. An iconic moment of reconciliation came when he and Louis embraced before a crowd on the balcony of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. By the end of 1832, however, the liberal Lafayette and much of the country had come to regret their support of the increasingly conservative monarch. Daumier depicts the marquis tormented by his support of the king, who is embodied by the pear weighing down on his chest. He holds a sheet of paper inscribed "Programme de l'hotel de ville" as he lies in front of an image of the famous embrace. Daumier derived the composition - Lafayette lying on a couch with his arm draped over the side and the tormentor of his dream sitting on his stomach -- from Henry Fuseli's famous painting The Nightmare (1781; Detroit Institute of Arts). The print is signed with the artist's pseudonym, "Rogelin."
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