In this performance, the participants in a merry carnival procession undergo a frightening transformation as they climb the mountain. As Ensor noted on the preparatory drawing (Royal Library Albert I, Print Room, Brussels), they turn into a "hellish militia on their way to the Sabbath". It is in this print that Ensor first introduces the grotesque masked creatures.
| Artist |
James Ensor
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | The Infernal Cortege |
| Date | 1887 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Medium and support | etching AAT |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | printed inscription top right: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">Ensor</span></p> |
| printed inscription bottom right: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">Ensor [86?]</span></p> | |
| inscription bottom right: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">Cortege Diabolique James Ensor</span></p> | |
| inscription on the reverse: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">Cortège diabolique.</span></p> | |
| inscription on the reverse: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">AT</span></p> | |
| inscription on the reverse: <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:9.0pt;">LD 10</span></p> | |
| Collection | print room |
| Object type | etching AAT |
| Inventory number | 1998-B-10-2 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.) 1998 |
| Current whereabouts | Work currently not on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-10-2 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4003/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300055874
religious symbolism
AAT
300056485 fantastic art AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
11L541414
Hell (as one of the Four Last Things)
Iconclass
11T hell and purgatory Iconclass 11T2(+4) symbols of hell (+ devil(s)) Iconclass 31A21 (human) skeleton Iconclass 31F symbols and personifications of Death Iconclass 31F1 symbols of Death Iconclass 31F11 death's head, skull (symbol of Death) Iconclass 31F2 personifications of Death; 'Morte' (Ripa) Iconclass 43A122 Carnival, Shrovetide (non-liturgical celebration) Iconclass 52A4 Imagination; 'Imaginatione' (Ripa) Iconclass 52A44 Fantasy, Caprice; 'Capriccio' (Ripa) Iconclass |
| School / Style |
phantasy
satire (artistic device) AAT |
| James Ensor : Catalogue illustré de ses gravures ; Leur description critique et l'inventaire des plaques = Geïllustreerde catalogus van zijn gravures ; Hun kritische beschrijving en inventaris van de platen = Illustrated catalogue of his engravings ; Their critical description and inventary of the plates / Auguste Taevernier. - Ledeberg (Gent) : Erasmus Boekhandel bv Amsterdam, 1973 (nr. 2) |
| Simryn Gill : de (hemi)cyclus van bladeren en papier = l'(hémi)cycle de feuilles et papier = the (hemi)cycle of leaves and paper (tentoonstelling Gent , Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 22.04 - 04.09.2016) / Catherine De Zegher, Jan Braet. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2016 (p. 16) |
| Mock Humanity : two essays on James Ensor's grotesques ; James Ensor's grotesques and the History of Caricature by Jules Champfleury ; Frame and figure in the work of James Ensor / Bart Verschaffel. - Ghent : A&S Books, 2018 (p. 26) |
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