Young Communards in Prison (Les Fédérés à la Conciergerie)

Gustave Courbet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Courbet was arrested for his alleged role in the destruction of the Vendôme Column following the defeat of the Paris Commune in June 1871. He was initially jailed in the Conciergerie, where he must have executed this drawing showing two very young fellow prisoners in a graffiti-marked cell. He submitted the drawing for reproduction in the journal "L’Autographe" in September, perhaps aiming to solicit sympathy for the Communards facing trial. He dedicated the drawing to Léon Brigot, one of few lawyers who defended Communards, including the artist.

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