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The Parisians don't quite trust the assurances of Monsieur Babinet and insist on lying in wait for the comet, plate 394 from Actualités

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

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

Date:

May 1, 1857

Artist:

Honoré Victorin Daumier
French, 1808-1879

About this artwork

Here, a little over a month before the deadly comet is due to land, a couple anxiously watches the skies for its arrival. Jacques Babinet, the “Monsieur Babinet” of the caption, was a member of the French Academy of Sciences and widely known as a charismatic speaker and writer on astronomy. Soon after the prediction was made, he publicly refuted the idea that a comet was going to end the world, in an attempt to quell some of the panic. Babinet was eventually proven right when no comet appeared on June 13, and life persisted.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Honoré-Victorin Daumier

Title

The Parisians don't quite trust the assurances of Monsieur Babinet and insist on lying in wait for the comet, plate 394 from Actualités

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.

1857

Medium

Lithograph in black on white wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 20.4 × 25.7 cm (8 1/16 × 10 1/8 in.); Sheet: 27.4 × 35.7 cm (10 13/16 × 14 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Print and Drawing Club

Reference Number

1955.1171

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/84641/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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