The Execution of Maximilian

Edouard Manet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Napoléon III installed the Hapsburg emperor Maximilian to power in Mexico in 1864, an endeavor that quickly failed, ending with the execution of Maximilian by firing squad. News of the execution quickly reached Paris, and Manet, an ardent Republican, set to work on a series of works depicting the event. Inspired by photographs and newspaper reports, Manet’s composition, with its contrasting areas of light and dark, enhances the scene’s dramatic impact. Ivins noted that Manet "saw everything broadly and simply as befitted a temperament that habitually found ease in splotches of tone, and as often as possible evaded the discomfort and concentration required to focus attention upon a line." Meant for wide distribution, the lithograph was suppressed by the state.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art