European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection Faust and Marguerite Made in Antwerp, Belgium, Europe1856 Hendrik Jan August Leys, Belgian, 1815 - 1869 Oil on panel * Gallery 155, European Art 1850-1900, first floor (Annenberg Galleries) E1924-3-83 The William L. Elkins Collection, 1924 |
LabelThis painting shows a moment in Goethe's dramatic poem Faust. Faust stands with the demonic Mephistopheles behind an iron screen, and he first spies the chaste Marguerite emerging from a church. Faust demands that Mephistopheles secure Marguerite's love for him. Leys has followed Goethe's description in his depiction of Marguerite as a young woman of modest or lower social standing with red lips, glowing cheeks, and downcast eyes. Like many nineteenth-century artists, Leys was interested in the Middle Ages. Here he dresses the characters in medieval costume and sets the scene at a medieval cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Social Tags [?]composition studies [x] flemish [x] literary [x] medieval [x] romanticism [x] [Add Your Own Tags]* Works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit. |
