About this artwork
In Paul and Virginie, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre addressed the injustices of Mauritius’s slave system most openly in one early scene, which is the subject of this image: the children return a fugitive from slavery to her enslaver in the hope that their appeal will secure her pardon. The owner, shown with his cane raised in oath, assures the children that he will spare the woman, but they later discover that he did not keep his promise and the woman was brutally punished for her escape.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Charles Melchior Descourtis
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Title
- The Fugitive Slave, plate 2 from Paul et Virginie
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Place
- France (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- Made 1795
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Medium
- Etching and engraving printed in yellow, blue, red, and black inks on paper
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Dimensions
- Image: 37.5 × 41.2 cm (14 13/16 × 16 1/4 in.); Sheet, cut within platemark: 41 × 47 cm (16 3/16 × 18 9/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- The Joseph Brooks Fair Collection
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Reference Number
- 1926.479
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/28756/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.
