Description:
[NOTICE EN FRANÇAIS À LA SUITE]First edition.Unique print : 100 copies. L'Oeuvre priapique isa collection of twenty-three plates by Denon representing subjects with erotic connotations, was published in Paris, at the end of 1793, by N.C. Aubourg Hôtel Bullion rue J. J. Rousseau. Heteroclite in spirit, execution and also in size - one finds scenes taken from ancient coins, Roman paintings from the Naples Museum of Herculaneum as well as compositions invented by Denon - this series constitutes Denon's first attempt as an engraver, when he arrives in Paris, to try to exploit his fund and earn some money. This initiative was ill-timed and testifies to his lack of knowledge of the surrounding climate. In this second year of the Republic, the initiative was politically incorrect, even dangerous: Robespierre, in the great "Discourse on the principles of political morality..." which he delivered on 4 February 1794, proclaimed that "in the system of the French Revolution, what is immoral is impolitic, what… Read More
