Satan (c.1848–62): Art, History and Details

Satan (c.1848–62) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Paul Gavarni (French, 1804–1866).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

As the illustrated press proliferated in France during the 1800s, the caricatures published within such newspapers and magazines were sometimes censored. Paul Gavarni was one of numerous artists at this time who used imagery of laundresses as a means of social critique. Here, a young woman’s blouse falls from her shoulder, suggesting her loose morals. She pauses from ironing to listen as a procuress—a woman who lures girls into sex work—approaches her. The print’s title alludes to the woman’s motives and the precariousness of virtue. Gavarni was among Edgar Degas’s favorite artists, and Degas built a substantial collection of the earlier artist’s prints.

Object facts

• Title: Satan
• Date: c.1848–62
• Creator attribution: Paul Gavarni (French, 1804–1866)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: lithograph on chine collé
• Dimensions: Sheet: 44.6 x 31.1 cm (17 9/16 x 12 1/4 in.); Image: 20.3 x 18 cm (8 x 7 1/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Lithograph
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2009.530

Collection credit

Gift of John Bonebrake

Further reading listed by the museum

• Salsbury, Britany. Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.