A novella written in by the French writer Francois-René de Chateaubriand entitled Atala tells of the tragic love story of Chactas, a Natchez Indian and Atala the half-caste Christian daughter of Simagan, the chief of the Muscogees, an enemy Indian tribe, who had captured and sentenced Chactas to death. Atala eventually frees him from captivity and they run away together. They are helped by Père Aubry, a Christian missionary and hermit, who takes them to his cave and gives them refuge. Atala falls in love with Chactas, but cannot marry him as she has taken a vow of chastity. In despair she takes poison. Père Aubry assumes that she is merely ill, but in the presence of Chactas she reveals what she has done, and Chactas is filled with anger until the missionary tells them that in fact Christianity permits the renunciation of vows. They tend her, but she dies.
My Daily Art Display for today is the painting completed in entitled The Burial of Atala by the French artist Anne-Louis Girodet who was inspired by the poignant story of the would-be lovers Chactas and Atala. The death scene, set inside the mouth of the cave, is a representation of the traditional paintings of
The Funeral of Atala
Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson
French, –
Details
Title
The Funeral of Atala
Artist/Maker
Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (French, –)
Dimensions
35 x 46 3/8 inches
Credit
Purchase with funds from the Forward Arts Foundation
Location
On View - Stent Family Wing, Level 2, Gallery
Girodet based this painting on a popular French novel by Chateaubriand that loosely retells the story of Romeo and Juliet in a New World setting. Here we see Chactas, a Natchez Indian, mourning his beloved Atala, a half Native American, half European maiden, who has committed suicide to keep from breaking the vow of chastity she had made to her dying mother. A larger version of this painting created a popular sensation when it was exhibited in Paris in
"The entombment of Atala" also called "Atala&#;s funeral"
Artist(s) : GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON Anne-Louis
The novel Atala or the love of two savages in the wilderness by Chateaubriand gave Girodet the subject for one of his most popular paintings. Set in primitive America of the 17th century, Atala is the tragic story of a young Christian metisse who falls madly in love with Chactas, an 'Indian' whom she has saved from a death sentence. Taken in by a missionary, Father Aubry, after a long 'walkabout', the young lovers however cannot live out their passsion. Trapped by the vow made to her mother to dedicate herself to religion, Atala chooses suicide in order to avoid succumbing to her passion, despite Chactas' willingness to convert so as to be able to marry her.
Presented at the Salon of , the painting is evidence of the renewal of religion in France, ever since it had been re-introduced by the Concordat. And Chateaubriand himself was to be influential in this return of Christian religion with his book, Génie du christianisme (The Spirit of Christianity). Indeed, Chateaubriand was include the story of Atala (intially publi
"Whosoever had not known that this young maiden had once enjoyed the light of day would have taken her for a statue of virginity asleep," wrote François René Chateaubriand of Atala in his popular Romantic novel of Taking inspiration from such poetic lines, the artist, painting in a style similar to Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy Trioson, let the rays of the moon play upon Atala and cast over the whole a dreamlike, mystical, magic light, establishing a decidedly Romantic mood. In this scene, Atala's beloved American Indian lover--looking like a Neoclassical version of a Roman hero--and a missionary lay her to rest after she has committed suicide rather than break the vow of virginity she made to her dying mother.
Burial of Atalafirst showed at the Paris Salon of and then exhibited it again in , receiving acclaim both times. Other artists painted numerous copies--such as this one--shortly after its first exhibition, and it has since become a landmark in art-historical studies, exemplifying the transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism in the early s.
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