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Fingal Mourning Over the Body of Malvina, from Ossian's Berrathon

A work made of black chalk with brush and black ink and brown wash, heightened with white gouache, on ivory laid paper prepared with a gray wash.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of black chalk with brush and black ink and brown wash, heightened with white gouache, on ivory laid paper prepared with a gray wash.

Date:

c. 1810

Artist:

Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson
French, 1767-1824

About this artwork

The dazzling, otherworldly, glow-in-the-dark effect Girodet achieved in this drawing is a testament to his extraordinary skill as a draftsman and painter, and to his all-consuming desire to be original.
Girodet illustrates a scene from a poem purportedly written by the ancient Scottish bard, Ossian, whose work was “discovered” and published in the 1760s. A famous literary hoax, the poems took Europe by storm. Here, Ossian’s father Fingal stands before the body of the dead Malvina, while her spirit ascends from the moonlit water behind him. Above Malvina’s body, spirits sparkle like stars.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson

Title

Fingal Mourning Over the Body of Malvina, from Ossian's Berrathon

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1810

Medium

Black chalk with brush and black ink and brown wash, heightened with white gouache, on ivory laid paper prepared with a gray wash

Dimensions

18.4 × 25.7 cm (7 1/4 × 10 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Celia and David Hilliard in honor of Jay Clarke

Reference Number

2006.412

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/188965/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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