Sunt lacrimae Rerum - from "Miserere"

Wonderful original etching with aquatint realized by  Georges Rouault  between 1917 and 1923, published as a suite in 1948. Sheet in perfect conditions.

The artwork is part of the important suite Miserere , considered as the most important religious graphic of XX century. Sunt lacrimae Rerum represents an episode of Christ's passion with a kneeling figure looking upwards. Miserere suite is divided in two themes: religious and profane; one is linked to Christ's passion and the other is dedicated to the human event, to the pilgrimage of pain on earth, made even more tragic by war. In the 58 original plates, Rouault lingers on the conditions of humanity. Like few other contemporaries, Rouault represents human figures placing him at the center of an absurd and squalid theater. Interesting the use of contrasts and the shapes of the figures with black outlines. 

Georges Rouault (Paris, 1871) has been an interesting exponent of French Expressionism between the end of XIX century and the beginning of XX century. His painting, violently expressive, was inspired at first to social ideals, then religious.

• Published in the Catalogue " Georges Rouault: Oeuvre Gravé ", by Isabella Chapon.