"Monsieur Babinet prévenu par sa portière de la visite de la comète" [Mr. Babinet warned by his concierge of the arrival of the comet]
Maker
Honoré Daumier
(French, 1808-1879)
Date22 September 1858
MediumLithograph on original newsprint
DimensionsImage: 7 15/16 x 10 1/2 in. (20.2 x 26.7 cm)
Sheet: 9-7/16 x 12-1/2 in. (24 x 31.8 cm)
Sheet: 9-7/16 x 12-1/2 in. (24 x 31.8 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, Paul and Miriam Kirkley Fund for Acquisitions
Collections
Object number2005.31.3
Status
On viewHonoré Daumier made a series of lithographs recording various manifestations of the public hysteria that resulted from an astronomer’s prediction in mid-1857—later proven false, of course—that a comet was about to destroy the earth. In the mid-nineteenth century, sky-gazing became accessible to the amateur, meaning that observation of the cosmos with a telescope was no longer restricted to so-called experts. Too often, however, possession of a telescope did not mean access to useful information. The man crouching at the telescope in this print is the gentleman-astronomer Babinet, who looks in the opposite direction of the comet while his concierge, with eyes protruding and mouth agape, attempts to alert him to it.
Honoré Daumier
25 February 1857