Flowers of Evil

Date

1971

Identifier

Special Collections PQ2191 F6 A2 1971

Publisher

New York: Printed for the Members of the Limited Editions Club

Abstract

While writing Les Fleurs du Mal, Charles Baudelaire kept on his desk two inspirational art works: a set of engravings by Alfred Rethel depicting a more modern, ironic, and hostile Danse Macabre; and a skeleton statuette sculpted by Ernest Christophe. With left hand positioned jauntily on her hip, the female skeleton wears a gown, is garlanded with flowers, and, right arm slightly bent, cradles a mask of flesh, looking as though she were about to attend a masquerade. In his poem ‘Danse Macabre,’ Baudelaire’s skeletal coquette is perfumed, elegant, and alluring as she leads humanity in a grotesque Danse Macabre.

Files

Flowers of p124-25.jpg

Citation

Charles Baudelaire, “Flowers of Evil,” ourheritage.ac.nz | OUR Heritage, accessed October 5, 2024, https://ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/8522.