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Sappho's Death. “Young ladies, you see where love leads us Under our feet so dainty and small The wretched chasm of an abyss Into which we eventually fall,” plate 49 from Histoire Ancienne

A work made of lithograph in black on ivory wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of lithograph in black on ivory wove paper.

Date:

1843

Artist:

Honoré Victorin Daumier
French, 1808-1879

About this artwork

Daumier’s 50-print series Stories from Antiquity appeared in Charivari over about a year. The Greek poet Sappho is said to have killed herself over a love affair, though specific details of her death are scant. Here Daumier added a helpful Cupid to nudge the unhinged but indecisive figure over the edge, while Charivari writers supplied verses significantly less artful than Sappho’s:Young ladies, you see where love leads us
Under our feet so dainty and small
The wretched chasm of an abyss
Into which we eventually fall.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Honoré-Victorin Daumier

Title

Sappho's Death. “Young ladies, you see where love leads us Under our feet so dainty and small The wretched chasm of an abyss Into which we eventually fall,” plate 49 from Histoire Ancienne

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.

1843

Medium

Lithograph in black on ivory wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 23.9 × 18.7 cm (9 7/16 × 7 3/8 in.); Sheet: 36 × 27.5 cm (14 3/16 × 10 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. Carter H. Harrison Collection

Reference Number

1948.406

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/63486/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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