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14. Jules de Goncourt (1830-1870) after Gabriel Decamps (1803-1860) Le Singe au Miroir (The Monkey at the Mirror)
Etching and drypoint, ca. 1865, 160 x 149 mm., Burty 30, Béraldi 4. Fine impression on laid paper with large margins; a few spots of foxing on the sheet, one in the upper left corner of the image. On a lighter (?) note: this robed monkey’s encounter with a mirror. The expression is difficult to fathom.
Surprise, yes, but horror at what the mirror reveals? Or does he see an adversary rather than himself? Or does the image presciently illustrate the immortal line from Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” A singerie-songerie, to quote the poet Eugene Walter.
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