Médée
1898 · Colour lithograph (poster) · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939)
- Year
- 1898
- Medium
- Colour lithograph (poster)
- Original size
- 210 × 78 cm
- Collection
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (department of Prints and Photography)
- Movement
- Art Nouveau
Sarah Bernhardt as Medea stands rigid with a bloodied dagger in her hand, her eyes staring, the bodies of her children at her feet, against a sunset sky inside a Greek arch; a serpent bracelet coils around her arm. Mucha designed the poster in 1898 for Catulle Mendès's Médée at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, and Bernhardt liked the bracelet so much that she had the jeweller Georges Fouquet make it for her. It is the most dramatic of his posters for her, the figure held still at the moment after the murder. Printed by F. Champenois, Paris. The impression reproduced is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A tall, stark figure in deep red, gold and sunset tones, for a study, library or hallway at 12×18 or 16×24 in thin black or dark wood, no mat. It suits a white or deep red wall and pairs with Lorenzaccio.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Art Nouveau painting
- Era
- 19th century (1898)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- decorative, sophisticated
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, anniversary, her, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 12×18. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Médée in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Médée painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
