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Allegory of Night, 1891

  • oil paint, canvas
  • 70 x 54.5 cm
  • Inv. 1914-AP

Public Domain

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The Allegory of Night is inspired by Greek mythology, in which Night is personified by a veiled woman. She is the mother of twins, Sleep and Death, here presented as two naked children. Léon Frédéric was here possibly making an allusion to another tradition of Western European art. Sleeping children are personifications of Morning and Evening, who have not yet awoken from an intense connection with their mother, Night. Here Frédéric was able to link his interest in the depiction of dream images to the art of the Italian Quattrocento, which he so much admired. Both the precision of the execution and the refinement with which he painted transparent fabrics remind one of the paintings of Botticelli, whose work he became familiar with during his study trips to Italy.

Artist

Léon Frédéric RKD VIAF Wikidata
Brussels 1856 - 1956 - Schaerbeek (Brussels) 1940
painters (artists)AAT

Title Allegory of Night
Date 1891
Period 19th century
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings signature and year bottom right: L Frederic / 1891
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number 1914-AP
Acquisition credit bequest
Scribe, Fernand
Ghent
1913
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1914-AP
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/613/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300055865 symbolism (artistic concept) AAT
300055866 allegory (artistic device) AAT
Keywords Iconclass 10 (symbolic) representations ~ creation, cosmos, cosmogony, universe, and life (in the broadest sense) Iconclass
23R14 night Iconclass
24D stars Iconclass
25G11 groups of trees Iconclass
25G3 trees Iconclass
25H1 landscapes in the temperate zone Iconclass
31B1 sleeping; unconsciousness Iconclass
31D111 infant, baby ~ the ages of man Iconclass
31D112 child Iconclass
31D1121 tot, toddler ~ the ages of man Iconclass
31D11221 boy (child between toddler and youth) Iconclass
31D120 Youth, Adolescence, 'Iuventus'; 'Adolescenza', 'Gioventu' (Ripa) Iconclass
41D2211 veil Iconclass
42A3 mother and baby or young child Iconclass
42A30 motherhood Iconclass
42B12 mother-love Iconclass
42B742 mother and child(ren), woman and child(ren) (family group) Iconclass
42G2112 mother (first degree family relationships) Iconclass
42G2121 son (first degree family relationships) Iconclass
School / Style Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT
Catalogus van het Museum van Schoone Kunsten Gent : II: Moderne Meesters / Georges Chabot, Fritz Van Loo. - Gent : Ad. Hoste, 1932 (p. 68)
Léon Frédéric (Fonds Richard de Moor). - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.]
De vrienden van Scribe : De Europese smaak van een Gents mecenas (tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 12 december 1998 - 14 maart 1999) / Monique Tahon-Vanroose, Robert Hoozee. - Gent : Snoeck-Ducaju & Zoon, 1998 ; Antwerpen : Pandora, 1998 (p. 117 (ill.), 178 (ill.))
Der Kuss der Sphinx : Symbolismus in Belgien (Ausstellung Wien, BA-CA Kunstforum, 16. Oktober 2007 - 3. Februar 2008) / Michel Draguet, Dominique Marechal, Sabine Plakolm-Forsthuber. - Wien : BA-CA Kunstforum, 2007
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. II, p. 159 (ill.))
Belgische schone : Ensor tot Magritte ; Hoogtepunten uit de verzameling van het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent (tentoonstelling Laren, Singer Laren, 16.06 - 30.08.2015) / Johan De Smet, Jan Rudolph De Lorm. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2015 ; Laren : Singer Laren, 2015 ; Heule : Uitgeverij Snoeck, 2015 (cat. 20 (ill.))
Decadence and Dark Dreams : Belgian Symbolism (exhibition Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie, 18.09.2020 - 17.01.2021) / Ralph Gleis, Maja Brodrecht, Johan De Smet, Jane Block, Hans Körner. - Berlin : Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Nationalgalerie, 2020 (p. 173)
Dekadenz und dunkle Träume : Der belgische Symbolismus (Ausstellung Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie, 18.09.2020 - 17.01.2021) / Ralph Gleis, Maja Brodrecht, Johan De Smet, Jane Block, Hans Körner. - Berlin : Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Nationalgalerie, 2020
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