Tobit burying the dead - Giovanni David
Date :
1775
Date uncertain
Type of image :
Peinture sur toile
Dimensions (HxL cm) :
74.5x85 cm
Storage Location :
2010.16.1
Description
Graftsman and theater decorator, Giovanni David was influenced by the Gothic style, in the manner of Füssli. Was it the European success of Voltaire's Sémiramis that gave him the idea for this subject?
Voltaire's tragedy, first performed in Paris in 1748, was indeed regularly revived in Brussels and Paris from 1773 to 1777. The setting is Assyrian, like the Book of Tobit, since Semiramis is Queen of Babylon. On stage, Voltaire imagines Ninus' mausoleum; his ghost appears in Act III, Scene 6. It's the same imaginary universe.
Textual Sources :
Technical Data
Notice #024791
Image editing :
Image web
Image Origin :
Copyright / Photographer :
Musée Fabre de Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole - Photographie Frédéric Jaulmes
