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| The Victoria & Albert Museum |
A peculiar and lively French print, this scene depicts an elderly man and woman (with a cat) in a tunnel. The woman falls to her knees as two men come into the tunnel, carrying a lamp, bucket and barrel. The caption of this satirical drawing is "Jésus Maria! Les Pétroleurs!!!"
This lithograph is from a set entitled "Paris Dans Les Caves," a series of thirty-nine plates portraying life below ground in Paris during the two sieges. The illustration is by B. Colomb known as "Moloch."
3 comments:
Oh please great BE...Do you *know* the story of why the couple looks so forlorn and wretched? I can't figure it out for the life of me.
The obvious reason was, before the workers came along, they were in pitch dark and afraid? Or maybe they saw the black cat crossing their path? Even if it was the dark thing, there's a giant rope right there for them? This is baffling me!
Hi Doni. I don't know the specific context, but I would wager that since these people are hiding sur de la Paris in caves during sieges, the woman is relieved that their intruders are looking for oil and not soldiers out to jail them.
Ah! That makes perfect sense.
I've read so much about France, and their positively rebellious population (how dare them not just eat cake!) lol...I wonder if that's the reason my family ended up in the U.S.?
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