Head of Vengeance
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (French, 1758-1823)
c. 1804
View the original$19
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
A study for the figure of Divine Vengeance in Prud’hon’s celebrated paintingJustice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime (1808), the head of Vengeance, who pursues Crime as an agent of Justice, brilliantly reflects the artist’s stated aim for the painting: “to give a commotion to the soul.”
Although the drawing’s blue paper has faded almost completely to gray, the work’s expressive power remains intact.
- Medium
- Black and white chalk, with stumping, and with traces of blue chalk, on blue laid paper (faded to tan)
- Original size
- 50.8 × 39.9 cm (20 × 15 3/4 in.)
Museum record · 7 owners · 13 exhibitions
Provenance
- Charles-Pompée Le Boulanger de Boisfremont (died 1838); by descent to his daughter, Mme. Power; sold, Paris, April 15-16, 1864, lot 40, to Henry Didier, Paris; sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 15-17, 1868, lot 151.
- P. E. Dromont; sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, December 6-9, 1871, lot 819.
- P. Charles Sechan (died 1874), Paris, by 1874.
- Jules Pierre-Michel Dieterle (died 1889), Paris, by 1884; sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, February 24-25, 1890, lot 36, to Clerc (?).
- Leon Ferte (died 1939), Paris, by 1922; sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 27, 1949, lot 16.
- Private Collection, United States.
- Sold by Wildenstein and Company, New York, to the Art Institute, 1951.
Exhibitions
- Paris, École des Beaux-Arts, "Prud'hon," 1874.
- Paris, École des Beaux-Arts, "Dessins de l'École Moderne," 1884.
- Paris, École des Beaux-Arts, "Prud'hon," 1922.
- Paris, Musée de Orangerie, "De David à Toulouse-Lautrec," 1955.
- New York, Wildenstein and Company, "Master Drawings from The Art Institute of Chicago," October 17-November 30, 1963, n.p..
- Cleveland Museum of Art, "Neo-Classicism: Style and Motif," 1964.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Selected Works of 18th Century French Art in the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago," January 24-March 28, 1976.
- Paris, Musée du Louvre, "Dessins français de l’Art Institute de Chicago de Watteau à Picasso," October 15, 1976-January 17, 1977, n.p..
- Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, "Französische Zeichnungen aus dem Art Institute of Chicago," February 10-April 10, 1977.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Canova and France," 1985.
- Paris, Musée du Louvre, "Prud'hon," February 21-May 21, 1995.
- Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, "Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823)," September 23, 1997-January 5, 1998.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Gods and (Super)heroes: Drawing in an Age of Revolution", November 16, 2017 - April 1, 2018.
