Chimera is a figure in Greek mythology, born of the monstrous union between Typhon and Echidna. The mythical creature is usually represented with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a snake. Ensor probably based his work on the knob of a cover of an Oriental ornamental vase that was kept in the painter's studio or house; his childhood friend Willy Finch from Ostend has a realistic drawing of the same ornamental object (Tournai, Musée des Beaux-Arts). In Ensor's print, the head of the man on the right of the statue is possibly that of Ernest Rousseau.
| Artist |
James Ensor
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | Chimaera |
| Date | 1888 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Medium and support | etching AAT |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | inscription bottom right: James Ensor 1888 |
| inscription on the reverse: AT | |
| inscription on the reverse: 9 / LD 25 / du chimère | |
| Collection | print room |
| Object type | etching AAT |
| Inventory number | 1998-B-25 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.) 1998 |
| Current whereabouts | Work currently not on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-25 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4025/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300056485
fantastic art
AAT
300015637 portraits AAT 300189808 figures (representations) AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
25F9
mis-shapen animals; monsters
Iconclass
25FF fabulous animals (sometimes wrongly called 'grotesques'); 'Mostri' (Ripa) Iconclass 25FF232 chimera (lion/goat/snake); 'Chimera' (Ripa) Iconclass 48C24 piece of sculpture, reproduction of a piece of sculpture Iconclass 92I7 monsters of the sea Iconclass 92I74 Echidna Iconclass 92I7491 children of Echidna Iconclass 92I74912 Chimera Iconclass |
| School / Style |
phantasy
Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT historicism (theory) 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. 25) |
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