Perched upon a Bust of Pallas

Series Title: Illustration for "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe

1875

Édouard Manet

(French, 1832–1883)

Culture

France, 19th century

Medium

lithograph

Measurements

Image: 48.5 x 32.7 cm (19 1/8 x 12 7/8 in.); Sheet: 55.5 x 39 cm (21 7/8 x 15 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Ralph King 1926.297

Catalogue raisonné

Harris 83

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Description

Edouard Manet created this lithograph for his friend Stephane Mallarmé’s 1875 French translation of American writer Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem “The Raven” (1845) about a man mourning his deceased love who is visited by a raven that repeatedly cries, “Nevermore.” Mallarmé’s edition is considered one of the first modern livres d’artistes—books created specifically as works of visual art. Manet created four full-page illustrations, including the scene in which the raven stares at the narrator from the top of the bust of the goddess Athena, and a raven head design used on the book’s cover and on its advertising poster.