The etching goes back to the historical defeat of Darius III in 331 BC. Ensor made the battle between Darius and Alexander the Great take place in the imaginary place of Arabela; in reality the military encounter took place in Gaugamela. The print has more fictional elements, and Ensor takes satire to the extreme. Darius' physicians examine his stool in search of a causal connection between a possible intestinal disorder and the defeat. The sonorous names of the physicians also spring from Ensor's unbridled imagination. The figure of Crazon, seated on the toilet on the right, was also used by Ensor in the drawing "The Devils Dzitts and Hihahox, Led by Crazon, Riding a Great Cat, Leading Christ to Hell" also from 1886 (Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, inv. 7660). On the other hand, the etching shows that Ensor took the technique of the old masters as an example, like Rembrandt here.
| Artist |
James Ensor
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | Iston, Pouffamatus, Cracozie and Transmouffe, Famous Persian Physicians, Examining the Stool of Darius |
| Date | 1886 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Medium and support | etching AAT |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | printed inscription bottom left: Ensor 86 |
| inscription on the reverse: AT | |
| inscription on the reverse: D-6 | |
| Collection | print room |
| Object type | etching AAT |
| Inventory number | 1998-B-6-3 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.) 1998 |
| Current whereabouts | Work currently not on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-6-3 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/3997/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300056485
fantastic art
AAT
300033898 history paintings AAT 300015636 landscapes AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
23S12
Persia (one of the four world empires)
Iconclass
25G3(PALM-TREE) trees: palm-tree Iconclass 31A623 faeces, excrement Iconclass 41A422 hangings and drapery Iconclass 41A771 container of metal: bucket, can, canister, drum, tin, etc. Iconclass 41D221(TURBAN) head-gear: turban Iconclass 44C312 political caricatures and satires Iconclass 49G1 physician, doctor Iconclass 52A4 Imagination; 'Imaginatione' (Ripa) Iconclass 52A44 Fantasy, Caprice; 'Capriccio' (Ripa) Iconclass 52EE11 Inquiry, Investigation; 'Investigatione' (Ripa) Iconclass 61A(+4) historical events and situations (+ cartoon, satire, caricature of historical event) Iconclass 61B2 historical persons Iconclass 61B2(ALEXANDER THE GREAT) historical person (ALEXANDER THE GREAT) Iconclass 61B2(DARIUS III) historical person (DARIUS III) Iconclass 98B(ALEXANDER THE GREAT) (story of) Alexander the Great Iconclass 98B(DARIUS) (story of) Darius, king of Persia Iconclass |
| School / Style |
phantasy
satire (artistic device) 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. 6) |
| James Ensor, Occasional Modernist : Ensor's artistic and social ideas and the interpretation of his art / Herwig Todts. - Turnhout : Brepols, 2018 (p. 347 (ill. 130)) |
|
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