With this imaginary view of an oriental-looking city full of statues, temples and staircases, Ensor links up with the tradition of the romantic city panorama, which combines interest in the exotic, the theatrical and the grand. An example might be "Betheshazzar's Feast" by the British painter John Martin, a specialist in this genre. This work is reproduced in Ernest Chesneau's book La Peinture anglaise, from which Ensor copied. The intricate perspectives and lighting effects in the print are also reminiscent of works by Giovanni Battista Piranesi and James Turner.
| Artist |
James Ensor
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | Capture of a Strange Town |
| Date | 1888 - 1988 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Medium and support | etching AAT |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | printed inscription bottom right: Ensor |
| printed inscription bottom right: Ensor | |
| inscription bottom right: James Ensor 1888 / Le prise d'une ville etrange | |
| inscription on the reverse: AT | |
| inscription on the reverse: D 33 | |
| Collection | print room |
| Object type | etching AAT |
| Inventory number | 1998-B-33-2 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.) 1998 |
| Current whereabouts | Work currently not on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-33-2 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4038/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus | 300056485 fantastic art AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
12A43
the Temple (in general) ~ Jewish religion
Iconclass
12E61 temple, shrine ~ Greek religion Iconclass 12F61 temple, shrine ~ Roman religion Iconclass 12H61 temple, shrine ~ Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism Iconclass 12I61 temple, shrine ~ Islam, Mohammedanism Iconclass 22C31 radiance emanating from persons or things Iconclass 25F25 trunked animals Iconclass 25I city-view, and landscape with man-made constructions Iconclass 25I12 prospect of city, town panorama, silhouette of city Iconclass 31A71 male sex; man Iconclass 31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass 41A1 civic architecture; edifices; dwellings Iconclass 45 warfare; military affairs Iconclass 45A1 war Iconclass 45A10 symbols, allegories of war; 'Guerra' (Ripa) Iconclass 45K3 defence ~ siege Iconclass 45K31 defence of fortification or city Iconclass 45K4 capture of city (after the siege) Iconclass 48C161 column, pillar ~ architecture Iconclass 52A4 Imagination; 'Imaginatione' (Ripa) Iconclass 52A44 Fantasy, Caprice; 'Capriccio' (Ripa) Iconclass |
| School / Style |
phantasy
satire (artistic device) AAT |
| James Ensor : Catalogue illustré de ses gravures ; Leur description critique et l'inventaire des plaques = Geïllustreerde catalogus van zijn gravures ; Hun kritische beschrijving en inventaris van de platen = Illustrated catalogue of his engravings ; Their critical description and inventary of the plates / Auguste Taevernier. - Ledeberg (Gent) : Erasmus Boekhandel bv Amsterdam, 1973 (nr. 33) |
|
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