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The Enigma (Doré)
''The Enigma'' is an oil-on-canvas painting executed in 1871 by French artist Gustave Doré. It is held in the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris. History and description The painting was created in 1871, in the aftermath of the French defeat at the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune, and it testifies to his dark historical context. Doré was from Strasbourg, and as such felt deeply the loss of Alsace–Lorraine to Germany. At first sight, the painting surprises with its uniform and almost monochrome appearance, which underlines an atmosphere of desolation and death, with corpses on a battlefield and burning cities on the horizon. At the left, there is an abandoned cannon, while the corpse of a mother clutches her dead child, with a dead civilian by her side, possibly her husband. Two corpses of dead soldiers lie at her right. The classic elements of the representation of war are present in this depiction. Another dead soldier is seen at the right, and the legs of another one are be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6January 1832 – 23January 1883) was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravings illustrating classic literature, especially those for the Vulgate Bible and Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. These achieved great international success, and he became renowned for printmaking, although his role was normally as the designer only; at the height of his career some 40 block-cutters were employed to cut his drawings onto the wooden printing blocks, usually also signing the image. He created over 10,000 illustrations, the most important of which were copied using an electrotype process using cylinder presses, allowing very large print runs to be published simultaneously in many countries. Although Doré's work was popular with the general public during his life, it was met with mixed reviews from contemporary art critics. His work has bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oil Painting
Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on copper, copper for several centuries. The advantages of oil for painting images include "greater flexibility, richer and denser color, the use of layers, and a wider range from light to dark". The oldest known oil paintings were created by Buddhism, Buddhist artists in Afghanistan, and date back to the 7th century AD. Oil paint was later developed by Europeans for painting statues and woodwork from at least the 12th century, but its common use for painted images began with Early Netherlandish painting in Northern Europe, and by the height of the Renaissance, oil painting techniques had almost completely replaced the use of egg tempera paints for panel paintings in most of Europe, though not for Orthodox icons or wall paintings, where tempera a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musée D'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Berthe Morisot, Monet, Claude Monet, Manet, Édouard Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Alfred Sisley, Sisley, Gauguin, and Vincent van Gogh, van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986. It is one of the list of largest art museums, largest art museums in Europe. In 2022 the museum had 3.2 million visitors, up from 1.4 million in 2021. It was the sixth-most-visited art museum in the world in 2022, and second-most-visited art museum in France ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the List of cities proper by population density, 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2022. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, culture, Fashion capital, fashion, and gastronomy. Because of its leading role in the French art, arts and Science and technology in France, sciences and its early adoption of extensive street lighting, Paris became known as the City of Light in the 19th century. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 inhabitants in January 2023, or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused primarily by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared in question following the decisive Austro-Prussian War, Prussian victory over Austria in 1866. According to some historians, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia in order to induce four independent southern German states—Grand Duchy of Baden, Baden, Kingdom of Württemberg, Württemberg, Kingdom of Bavaria, Bavaria and Grand Duchy of Hesse, Hesse-Darmstadt—to join the North German Confederation. Other historians contend that Bismarck exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. All agree that Bismarck recognized the potential for new ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), National Guard had defended Paris, and working-class radicalism grew among its soldiers. Following the establishment of the French Third Republic in September 1870 (under French chief-executive Adolphe Thiers from February 1871) and the complete defeat of the French Army by the Germans by March 1871, soldiers of the National Guard seized control of the city on 18 March. The Communards killed two French Army generals and refused to accept the authority of the Third Republic; instead, the radicals set about establishing their own independent government. The Commune governed Paris for two months, promoting policies that tended toward a Progressivism, progressive, anti-clericalism , anti-religious system, which was an eclectic mix of many 19th-cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department and the Seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, official seat of the European Parliament. The city has about three hundred thousand inhabitants, and together Eurométropole de Strasbourg, Greater Strasbourg and the arrondissement of Strasbourg have over five hundred thousand. Strasbourg's functional area (France), metropolitan area had a population of 860,744 in 2020, making it the eighth-largest metro area in France and home to 14% of the Grand Est region's inhabitants. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict, Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of roughly 1,000,000 in 2022. Strasbourg is one of the ''de facto'' four main capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels, Luxembourg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alsace–Lorraine
Alsace–Lorraine (German language, German: ''Elsaß–Lothringen''), officially the Imperial Territory of Alsace–Lorraine (), was a territory of the German Empire, located in modern-day France. It was established in 1871 by the German Empire after it had occupied the region during the Franco-Prussian War. The region was officially ceded to the German Empire in the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871), Treaty of Frankfurt. French Third Republic, French resentment about the loss of the territory was one of the contributing factors to World War I. Alsace–Lorraine was formally ceded back to France in 1920 as part of the Treaty of Versailles following Germany's defeat in the war, but already annexed in practice at the war's end in 1918. Geographically, Alsace–Lorraine encompassed most of Alsace and the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments of France, department of Lorraine. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River, east of the Vosges Mountains; t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total population of over 84 million in an area of , making it the most populous member state of the European Union. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The Capital of Germany, nation's capital and List of cities in Germany by population, most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Settlement in the territory of modern Germany began in the Lower Paleolithic, with various tribes inhabiting it from the Neolithic onward, chiefly the Celts. Various Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (1831) and ''Les Misérables'' (1862). In France, Hugo is renowned for his poetry collections, such as and (''The Legend of the Ages''). Hugo was at the forefront of the Romanticism, Romantic literary movement with his play ''Cromwell (play), Cromwell'' and drama ''Hernani (drama), Hernani''. His works have inspired music, both during his lifetime and after his death, including the opera ''Rigoletto'' and the musicals ''Les Misérables (musical), Les Misérables'' and ''Notre-Dame de Paris (musical), Notre-Dame de Paris''. He produced more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of Capital punishment in France, capital punishment and Abolitionism, slavery. Although he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arrondissement (district or ward) and home to some of the most Western canon, canonical works of Art of Europe, Western art, including the ''Mona Lisa,'' ''Venus de Milo,'' and ''Winged Victory''. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II of France, Philip II. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to urban expansion, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function, and in 1546 Francis I of France, Francis I converted it into the primary residence of the French kings. The building was redesigned and extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his househ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1871 Paintings
Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Bapaume – Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the south German states unite into a single nation state, known as the German Empire. The King of Prussia is declared the first German Emperor as Wilhelm I of Germany, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The Constitution of the German Confederation comes into effect. It abolishes all restrictions on Jewish marriage, choice of occupation, place of residence, and property ownership, but exclusion from government employment and discrimination in social relations remain in effect. * January 21 – Battle of Dijon: Giuseppe Garibaldi's group of French and Italian volunteer troops, in support of the French Third Republic, win a battle against the Prussians. * February 8 – 1871 French legislative election elects the first legislature of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
