The Romans in their Decadence

The Romans in their Decadence (French: Les Romains de la décadence) is a painting by the French artist Thomas Couture, depicting the Roman decadence. It debuted as the most highly acclaimed work of the Paris Salon of 1847, a year before the 1848 Revolution which toppled the July Monarchy.[1] Reminiscent of the style of Raphael, it is typical of the French 'classic' style between 1850 and 1900 today analyzed within the wider current of academic art.

It now belongs to the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.[2] It was etched by Edmond Hédouin (1820–1889).

Painting

Coutre's composition depicts the moral and political decline of the later Roman Empire through the inebriated and exhausted aftermath of a large orgy, contrasting the weakness and degeneracy of its participants against the statues of gods or emperors proudly displayed around the classical Roman architecture of the painting's setting. Some figures continue to dance among the reclining mass while one man at the right drunkenly addresses a statue while disrespectfully swinging from its arm. Only three appear to have avoided participating in the orgy, consisting of one figure seated contemplatively upon a plinth to the left, and two upright men overlooking the scene from the right.

Reception

Théophile Gautier compared the realism of the painting to styles practiced in Northern Europe at the time rather than Couture's native France.

References

  1. ↑ Linda Nochlin, Gustave Courbet: A Study of Style and Society (New York: Garland Publishing, 1976), 129-30.
  2. ↑ “Musée d’Orsay: Thomas Couture Romans during the Decadence.” Accessed March 3, 2020. https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/romans-during-the-decadence-2105.html?cHash=ca15e83794.


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