![Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville - The Spy [1880] by Gandalf's Gallery](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uBm6wbMGq9MZcWmsMgYHTjSuzvvZdglT_-J0oaO7xzUx-Y56Ed0Us5Ayh-yecQjBfpAAhw7cjjglKEaNFCOlLTIZMAvWegZ2yf1I4LwWBpvCSGjGPyVQ6hDtJt2vhHKg=s0-d)
The Spy was exhibited at the Salon of 1881 where it was titled The Dispatch Bearer. As de Neuville (French, Saint-Omer, 1835 - Paris, 1885) explained in the exhibition catalogue, this painting depicts an incident from the Franco-Prussian War, 1870–71. A French soldier, disguised as a peasant, was caught during an attempt to pass through the German lines surrounding the French city of Metz. He knew that when the German officers finished their search and interrogation he would be shot. Metz capitulated after a fifty-four day siege, and after the war the city was ceded to the Germans.
The present painting, extolling the courage and bravery of the captured Frenchman, is an example of the numerous paintings with patriotic and nationalistic themes that appeared in the Salons during the seventies and eighties. As one critic wrote, "This dark haired man with his fine proud features, and strong agile body, and solid lively elegance, this man carries in his face the authentic mark of the race. Who could fail to recognise in him a son of France?"
[Oil on canvas, 130.2 x 213.4 cm]
I've seen this painting in 1982 at the Metorpolitan Museum, and it remained impressed in my memory, the stairs and the face of the man.
ReplyDeleteRecently a friend went to New York, and I asked him to look if the painting (huge) was still there and to bring me back a photo.
He gave me some hints, and at last I found the picture on Internet, through Google, not an easy task if you don't know the painter's name and the title of the painting.
I searched on Google.ch something like the man who was to be shot, in french, and after some passage, here I am, incredible!
Somewhere else you can dowload a 3 Mbyte jpg, print it on A3, fantastic, look at the man face.
lapaget