The Duel After the Masquerade

The Duel After the Masquerade, painted by Jean-Léon Gérôme in 1857, shows the moments after a sword duel rather than the fight itself. The scene unfolds on a grey winter morning in the Bois de Boulogne, on the outskirts of Paris, with bare trees and a thin layer of snow on the ground. A man dressed as Pierrot lies mortally wounded in the arms of a companion costumed as the Duke of Guise, while a doctor dressed as a Venetian doge tries to stop the bleeding and another friend, wrapped in a black domino, clasps his head in despair. The victor, dressed as a Native American, walks away with his second, a Harlequin, leaving behind his weapon and a few feathers from his headdress. Carriages wait in the distance. The clash between the gaudy carnival costumes and the blood on Pierrot is the dramatic heart of the painting, typical of Gérôme's academic style. The subject was evidently fashionable, since Thomas Couture treated a similar theme that same year. The picture was an immediate success, several replicas were made, and in 1909–1910 it was voted the favourite artwork of the people of Baltimore.

Painter

Jean-Léon Gérôme

Date

1857

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

68 × 99 cm

Museum

Condé Museum, Chantilly

Movement

academic art

Genre

genre art

Depicts

major trauma, medicine, sword, winter, broad-leaved tree, Harlequin, Pierrot, duel

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