Ermance (Baculard d'Arnaud, The Trials of Emotion vol4) - Halbou after Marillier

Daramant, an impulsive and jealous husband, has murdered one of his best friends after wrongly suspecting him of courting his wife. Sentenced to the scaffold, he is imprisoned, but Ermance, his perfectly innocent wife, sacrifices herself to save their family's honor: she makes the judges believe that she was really at fault, thus making the murder legitimate in the eyes of the law. Thanks to this lie, Daramant is freed. Riddled with remorse, Daramant finally wants to set the record straight. He summons judges, clergymen, relatives, friends and town notables to publicly confess his guilt and extol his wife's virtue.

To the left of the engraving, a man of the law, accompanied by a clergyman, records Daramant's deposition. Daramant, aided by his father standing behind him, points to Ermance to celebrate her, while Ermance herself, supported by her own father, becomes confused and hides her face. In the background, a compact crowd figures the swelling rumor mill celebrating Ermance's virtue.