Le Tombeau du Diable (The Devil's Tomb)

1879/1880

Félix-Hilaire Buhot

Associated Names
Félix-Hilaire Buhot

Artist, French, 1847 - 1898

The image features an engraving depicting two figures, one male and one female, positioned in the center. The male figure is shown kneeling and leaning toward the sitting female figure. The female has long hair drawn back and appears to be dressed in a flowing garment, while the male figure is more difficult to describe due to the darkness surrounding him. No notable facial expression is discernible from the female's face due to the etching's shading. They are enclosed within what seems to be a cavern with rugged walls, and a torch illuminating the space from a sconce on the wall, casting shadows around them. Surrounding this central image is an intricately etched border with mythical and abstract figures, including a creature with a human head and a lion's body and other suggestive forms blending into the design.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, drypoint, aquatint (spirit ground) and roulette (lower right margin, above the girl's head) in black on Japanese paper

  • Credit Line

    Helena Gunnarsson Buhot Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 17.4 x 11.5 cm (6 7/8 x 4 1/2 in.)
    sheet: 23.6 x 16.5 cm (9 5/16 x 6 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1995.54.51

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Bourcard/Goodfriend 1979, no. 108, State iv/vi


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

James Goodfriend, New York; Helena Gunnarsson, Washington, DC; gift to NGA, 1995.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1899

  • Bourcard, Gustave. Felix Buhot: catalogue descriptif de son oeuvre grave. Paris: H. Floury, 1899. Reprint. With additions and revisions by James Goodfriend. New York: Martin Goodfriend, 1979.

Inscriptions

lower center in margin in plate: Felix Buhot inv sc; lower left in plate: LE TOMBEAU DU DIABLE (p 243); lower center below plate mark stamped in red: FB (Lugt 977); by later hand, lower left in graphite: P. X.; by later hand, lower right in graphite: B/G 108 iv/vi; by later hand, lower center verso in graphite: 89; by later hand, lower center verso in graphite: APG 6931/10

Wikidata ID

Q75394032

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