Artwork
La Cure de Cucagnan
La Cure de Cucagnan is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Félix-Hilaire Buhot. It dates from 1879 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Adjacent vignettes depict mourners at graves and individuals ascending a staircase, extending the narrative beyond the sanctuary.
Félix‑Hilaire Buhot’s print La Cure de Cucagnan, executed in 1879, combines etching, dry‑point and roulette on laid paper. The composition presents a dimly lit interior of a church where a group of figures encircles a bed, while ethereal silhouettes hover above, clutching a luminous cross. Adjacent vignettes depict mourners at graves and individuals ascending a staircase, extending the narrative beyond the sanctuary.
Subject & Meaning
The central tableau suggests a communal prayer or healing ritual, with the spectral presences above implying divine or supernatural assistance. The ancillary scenes of graveside devotion and stair climbing reinforce themes of mortality, hope, and spiritual ascent, resonating with Romantic interests in the unseen and the emotional intensity of faith.
Technique & Style
Buhot employed a layered approach: traditional line etching outlines the architecture, dry‑point adds rich, velvety shadows, and roulette stippling creates tonal variation across the interior space. The interplay of these methods yields a dense, atmospheric depth, while the stark contrast between the dark nave and the glowing cross accentuates the work’s dramatic tension.
History & Provenance
Created in the late nineteenth century, La Cure de Cucagnan reflects Buhot’s engagement with printmaking innovations of his era. The work has been documented in several European collections, though its exact ownership trail remains limited to museum inventories and exhibition catalogues that reference its 1879 date and medium.
Artist & collection
Ex-Libris pour "L'Ensorcelée" (Bookplate for "L'Ensorcelée")
Ex-Libris pour "L'Ensorcelée" (Bookplate for "L'Ensorcelée")
Figures on Top of a Hill, Overlooking the Sea
Ebury Street
A Gathering in an Interior; A Curtained Doorway
Frontispiece for L'Illustration Nouvelle: The Burial of the Burin
Fan with Wildflowers and Butterflies against the Norman Coast![Gillingham Pier, London [verso], by Félix-Hilaire Buhot](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/felix-hilaire-buhot--gillingham-pier-london-verso--641e03dd7de8217b-w320.webp)
Gillingham Pier, London [verso]
