Erotic helplessness : a study of the history of the Damsel in Distress theme in art

[coldturkey]

"Le Rire" ("The Laugh"), French Satirical Newpaper, N° 264, November 23rd 1899. Joan of Arc Burnt at the Stake.
The caption is a quote from Jules Michelet's Histoire de France and reads (free translation) : "The chronicler, a friend of the English, charges them here of great cruelty. They wanted, says he, that her dress be burnt first, so that the patient remained nude, so as to remove all doubt as to her gender, and that the fire, being removed, each might see her in the state of nature, that is, all the secrets that can or must be in a woman. After this ferocious and indecent exposition, the executioner placed the fire back on her poor carcass".
One must say, the French had strange humour back then. One might recall that the Fashoda Incident had occurred a year earlier, and the Britons, in French public opinion, had just graduated from being the tormentors of the Maid of Orléans to the thieves of the Sudan...

 

[coldturkey]

Here is Konstantin Makovsky's The Bulgarian Martyresses, duly self-censored... For all we know, our victim might be clinging to an icon...

 

[coldturkey]

And to continue the Vae Victis tradition, Paul Joseph's Jamin's Brennus and his Share of the Spoils, 1893

 

[ducon007]

And to continue the Vae Victis tradition, Paul Joseph's Jamin's Brennus and his Share of the Spoils, 1893

Well known but always welcome!

 

[coldturkey]

Still in the war horrors category, this painting by Jean Charles Pierre, Comte de Chabannes La Palice (1862-1934), depicting two nude women at the mercy of the Boxers, with one of their tormentors seemingly holding the severed hand of a loved one (husband or father ?) on a hook ! Unfortunately, the original is considered lost (last known location was the Parisian Salon of French Artists of 1910), and only subsists in two known reproductions : a Russian postcard and a monochrome negative conserved at the Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie (Charenton-le-Pont). I kind of bemuse it's fate : was it purchased by a Russian aristocrat and then lost amidst the chaos of the Revolution ? Plundered by the Nazis ? It is one of the greater losses of DiD art that I know of...

 

[Loxuru]

Still in the war horrors category, this painting by Jean Charles Pierre, Comte de Chabannes La Palice (1862-1934), depicting two nude women at the mercy of the Boxers, with one of their tormentors seemingly holding the severed hand of a loved one (husband or father ?) on a hook ! Unfortunately, the original is considered lost (last known location was the Parisian Salon of French Artists of 1910), and only subsists in two known reproductions : a Russian postcard and a monochrome negative conserved at the Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie (Charenton-le-Pont). I kind of bemuse it's fate : was it purchased by a Russian aristocrat and then lost amidst the chaos of the Revolution ? Plundered by the Nazis ? It is one of the greater losses of DiD art that I know of...

A severed hand? I always thought it was a dead rat, the tormentors were 'offering for food'.

Stykka's panorama of Nero's circus was lost in WWI in the Russian city of Saratov, where it was lost because of collapse of the roof of the building where it had been exposed, under the weight of too much snow. Its torn remnants were put on storage, but have vanished after the revolution.

 

[coldturkey]

A severed hand? I always thought it was a dead rat, the tormentors were 'offering for food'.

Stykka's panorama of Nero's circus was lost in WWI in the Russian city of Saratov, where it was lost because of collapse of the roof of the building where it had been exposed, under the weight of too much snow. Its torn remnants were put on storage, but have vanished after the revolution.

Thanks for that bit of information, @Loxuru ! I had not known what it had become... Ah the losses of war...

 

[coldturkey]

A severed hand? I always thought it was a dead rat, the tormentors were 'offering for food'.

Stykka's panorama of Nero's circus was lost in WWI in the Russian city of Saratov, where it was lost because of collapse of the roof of the building where it had been exposed, under the weight of too much snow. Its torn remnants were put on storage, but have vanished after the revolution.

As for the identity of the object on the pole, perhaps my twisted mind is misleading me. I was trying to explain the look of horror on their faces (if they were being offered skewered rat, would not their faces show merely disgust ?)

 

[The Fallen Angel]

And we must not forget Léon Auguste Adolphe Belly, "Pilgrims going to Mecca" (Hosted externally)

 

[coldturkey]

And we must forget Léon Auguste Adolphe Belly, "Pilgrims going to Mecca" (Hosted externally)

Refreshments during the pilgrimage, I presume ?

 

[Jollyrei]

And we must forget Léon Auguste Adolphe Belly, "Pilgrims going to Mecca" (Hosted externally)

Okay, I've forgotten it.
There may be a "not" missing.

 

[The Fallen Angel]

Okay, I've forgotten it.
There may be a "not" missing.

You simply read it wrong!

 

[Loxuru]

Meanwhile, a few more on the Sophronia theme. Old drawings (artists unknown).
Sophronia is condemned to death by King Aladine and prepared to be taken away for execution.

A few more old drawings (unknown artists). Sophronia is brought to the stake. Her hands tied to her back. Soon to be stripped naked before being tied to the pole.

 

[Naraku]

To drum up support for war against Spain, William Randolph Hearst published of alleged misconduct by the Spanish in Cuba in his newspapers. One involved a Cuban woman on board a New York bound US ship who was searched by police on suspicion she was carrying letters from rebels, before the ship was allowed to leave Havana. The search was done discreetly by female officer. But, that didn't stop Hearst from sensationalizing things with an article that included the following illustration, done by the renowned artist Frederick Remington. This ran on the front page of newspapers through out America.

Hearst was much more concerned with selling newspapers than freeing the Cuban people.

 

[coldturkey]

To drum up support for war against Spain, William Randolph Hearst published of alleged misconduct by the Spanish in Cuba in his newspapers. One involved a Cuban woman on board a New York bound US ship who was searched by police on suspicion she was carrying letters from rebels, before the ship was allowed to leave Havana. The search was done discreetly by female officer. But, that didn't stop Hearst from sensationalizing things with an article that included the following illustration, done by the renowned artist Frederick Remington. This ran on the front page of newspapers through out America.
View attachment 1279936
Hearst was much more concerned with selling newspapers than freeing the Cuban people.

Thanks for the background information, @Naraku ! I had seen the illustration and knew it was a piece of yellow-journalism meant to provoke war with Spain, but did not know all the details...

 

[coldturkey]

Reacting to your Olindo and Sophronia posts, @Loxuru, I thought I might add this photograph by William Mortensen (1897-1965) of the fated couple on the pyre...

 

[coldturkey]

Also, this watercolor by Jean Bruneau (1921-2001), depicting a raid on the Spanish colonial town of Cartagena de Indias (present-day Colombia) by French buccaneers in 1697... A busty Spanish captive among the spoils...

 

[coldturkey]

Also, this drawing by Georges Topfer. The caption reads "She lied at my feet, nude and chaste". Does anyone know which curiosa this drawing is from ?

 

[ducon007]

Also, this drawing by Georges Topfer. The caption reads "She lied at my feet, nude and chaste". Does anyone know which curiosa this drawing is from ?

I have many of Georges Topfer (aka Gaston Smit), but not this one!

 

[coldturkey]

Also, this drawing by Georges Topfer. The caption reads "She lied at my feet, nude and chaste". Does anyone know which curiosa this drawing is from ?

The source (Librairie L'amour qui bouquine, selling on Ebay), indicates the date as 1931. I conclude it must be one of the following :

• Kidrodstock, Lord, Éducation anglaise, discipline du corset, des gants, des bottines... (‘‘Under-kid government’’), Librairie Artistique, 1931. 8 eaux-fortes en noir et 1 en couleurs, nombreuses illustrations, 6 culs-de-lampe, 10 têtes de chapitre.
• Virgans, Jean de, Corrections féminines, Souvenirs d’un médecin français. La Flagellation des esclaves aux États-Unis, Librairie Franco-Anglaise, 1931. 5 illustrations.
• Virgans, Jean de, Esclaves modernes. La Traite et la flagellation des blanches dans le Sud-Afrique, Librairie Franco-Anglaise, 1931. 6 illustrations.
• Vitrac, M., Domptage et hauts talons, Édition Parisienne, 1931. 6 illustrations.
• Vitrac, M., Sous le jonc, Édition Parisienne, 1931. 8 gravures hors-texte en noir, têtes de chapitres et culs-de-lampe.
• Vitrac, M., Sous le jonc, Librairie Artistique et Édition Parisienne réunies, 1931. Couverture illustrée, 8 gravures hors-texte en noir, têtes de chapitres et culs-de-lampe.