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Overview
Felicien Rops (1833-1898) was one of the most infamous artists of the mid to late nineteenth century. A major figure in the Belgian avant-garde, his decadent vision took Paris by storm when he moved there in the 1860s and counted Charles Baudelaire amongst his early admirers.
This etching depicts the Sire de Lumey standing in profile to the right before a wall decorated with tapestries, his left hand grabbing his sword. It is an illustration to the second edition of Charles De Coster's La légende d'Ulenspiegel (Paris, 1869). A proper, bourgeois historical theme - essentially an illustration - it gives little hint of Rops's erotic or satanic preoccupations. However, how should we interpret nude female figure lurking in the gloom of the right hand background? The main inscription makes us focus on the Sire to Lumey himself, who is decribed in the French inscription immediately below the plate as a 'Proud knight [seigneur] who lived in opulence'.
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art May 2018