Artwork Page for The Troubadour

Details / Information for The Troubadour

The Troubadour

1868–73

Honoré Daumier

(French, 1808–1879)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
oil on fabric
Measurements
Framed: 99.5 x 73 x 8 cm (39 3/16 x 28 3/4 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 83.6 x 56.8 cm (32 15/16 x 22 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1958.23
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
220 19th Century European
Print
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Did You Know?

Daumier was called the “Michelangelo of caricature” and especially renowned for his cartoons and drawings satirizing 19th-century French politics and society.

Description

The troubadour, a medieval traveling poet and entertainer, was a popular subject in 19th-century French art. Associated with chivalry and courtly love, the theme reflects a broader, romantic fascination with France's medieval past. Although Daumier was particularly inspired by the troubadour paintings of French Rococo artist Jean-Antoine Watteau of the 1700s, he rendered the subject here in a powerful style of simplified, muscular form that appealed to modern artists of his own time.
A vertically oriented oil painting in thick brushstrokes depicts a man with light skin tone standing with his head tilted back and mouth open. He holds a rounded stringed instrument across his chest, wearing a loose white shirt and dark trousers. He stands before a background of trees and sky rendered in muted grays, browns, and blues. To our right, a stone pedestal stands beside him, the figure rendered with expressive, sketchy highlights.

The Troubadour

1868–73

Honoré Daumier

(French, 1808–1879)
France, 19th century

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