Alphonse Legros (1847-1911) The Plague In Rome

Etching by Alphonse Legros representing a group of monks giving communion to a group of sick people during the Black Death episode in Rome during the winter of 589-590. Alphonse Legros (1847-1911) is a draftsman, painter, sculptor and engraver who was trained at the Beaux Arts in Dijon and Paris. Close friend of Degas, Rodin and Fantin Latour. It was on the advice of the painter Whistler that he moved to London in 1863 where he distinguished himself as a teacher at the University College of London. He then frequented the great names of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, in particular Rossetti and Burne-Jones, and also produced portraits of Darwin, Rodin, Victor Hugo... An extraordinary draftsman, it was he who introduced Rodin to the technique of the dry point in 1881. His works reveal an imaginary at the same time powerful and dark, the sick, the destitute and the dying always hold a good place there. His series "The Triumph of Death" is the perfect illustration of this. Our etching is signed lower right in the plate. A copy of this plate is kept at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The board is in good condition but traces and wettings are present on its entire perimeter, they are however easy to conceal with a suitable frame.