A Christening in Revolutionary France
Jean Baptiste Mallet
1700–1799
- Medium
- Pen and brown and gray inks and red chalk and watercolor, heightened with white; squaring for transfer
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 33.3 x 44.6 cm (13 1/8 x 17 9/16 in.)
- Genre
- Drawings
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
France, 19th century
About
Mallet’s image depicts a Republican baptism ceremony during the French Revolution. The event takes place in a magnificent Gothic church, identifiable as such by its pointed arches and stained glass window. A mother presents her infant to the priest who raises his right hand as he administers the sacrament. Even the musicians pause from playing to watch this spectacle.
