D'Almanzi, cul-de-lampe (Baculard d'Arnaud, The Trials of Emotion vol4) - Halbou after Marillier

The cul-de-lampe offers an allegorical reading of the short story D'Almanzi. It shows a winged man, armed with a scythe, placing a halo on the head of a woman holding a triangle in one hand and a ruler in the other. The image can be understood as the meeting of two allegories: Death, on the one hand, and Moral Order, on the other. The image thus suggests that Death becomes the agent of reparation, the one that allows a return to equilibrium and signifies a regained dignity.

In the short story, similarly, the death of the Count d'Ossemont's wife frees him and finally allows him to marry Clémence, the mother of his illegitimate son, thus repairing an old fault.