Le BAPTÊME D'ACHILLE. Comme on trempe une arme de guerre, Thétis de son moutard voulant faire un héros, Le trempa dans le Styx dès qu'il vit la lumière; Ce qui prouve qu'un bain est bon à tout propos. (De l'influence des bains, poëme par Mr. Vigier).

Item Information

Title:
Le BAPTÊME D'ACHILLE. Comme on trempe une arme de guerre, Thétis de son moutard voulant faire un héros, Le trempa dans le Styx dès qu'il vit la lumière; Ce qui prouve qu'un bain est bon à tout propos. (De l'influence des bains, poëme par Mr. Vigier).
Title (alt.):
THE BAPTISM OF ACHILLES. As a weapon of war is quenched, Thetis wishing to make her child a hero, Dipped him in the Styx s soon as he was born; Which proves that a bath is good for everything. (On the influence of bathing, poem by Mr. Vigier).. Charivari
Description:
Thetis is baptizing his son Achilles in the river Styx. Daumier explains in his very unusual way the origin of the Achilles tendon. Could it possibly be that the crab, solidly attached to his nose, created another point of weakness with Achilles, hitherto unknown? On the lower left side of this print within the image one can see an annotation by Daumier: "A mon ami, Albéric Second". During the 1840's, a quarrel between painters of the classic and romantic schools had fully flared up. Delacroix asked the "loaded" question: "Who is going to liberate us from the old Greeks?" Daumier succeeded to answer it his own way by showing historic personalities such as Hercules, Pygmalion or Agamemnon in absurd situations.
Donor:
Trustman, Benjamin A., Trustman, Julia M.
Lithographer:
Daumier, Honoré, 1808-1879
Date:
1842
Format:
Drawings/Illustrations
Location:
Brandeis University Libraries
Collection (local):
Benjamin A. and Julia M. Trustman Collection of Honoré Daumier Lithographs
Subjects:
Baptisms
Mythology, Greek
Mythology
Greek
France--History--Louis-Philip, 1830-1848
Achilles (Greek mythology)
Thetis (Greek mythology)
Antiquities in art
Extent:
1 lithograph, b&w, 34 x 24.5 cm
Link to Item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10192/4893
Terms of Use:
Copyright restrictions may apply. For permission to copy or use this image, contact the Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections Department, Brandeis University Libraries. The following credit line must be included with each item used: Benjamin A. and Julia M. Trustman Collection of Honoré Daumier Lithographs, Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University.
Contact host institution for more information.
Place of origin:
Paris
Notes:
3rd state.
Published in: Le Charivari, August 28, 1842.
Notes (acquisition):
Donated by: Benjamin A. and Julia M. Trustman, 1959.
Identifier:
LD946