"She took one of her serpents..."

NOËL LE MIRE, French 1724 - 1801;
after CHARLES EISEN, French 1720 - 1778
"She took one of her serpents..."
in Charles Montesquieu's Le Temple de Gnide, Paris
engraving, 1772
Lent by UNC-CH's Rare Book Collection

Montesquieu presents Le Temple de Gnide as the translation of an ancient Greek poem. Actually it is his own creation, a playful representation of love as viewed by court circles in the early years of Louis XV's reign. In this episode the two heroes of the poem, faithful servants of the goddess Venus, have strayed into the cave of Jealousy, where Rage torments them with serpents. They later find a remedy for their suffering in the worship of Bacchus, god of wine!

The style of this image obscures the line between good and evil, classical and grotesque. The monstrous images are delineated with an arabesque line while the beautifully classical man is depicted with a more linear rendering. The monster that overpowers the man demonstrates a need to find a god who will be there in times of crisis. The style emphasizes the satirical nature of Montesquieu's program because the arabesque, which William Hogarth labeled "the line of beauty," is used to delineate the monstrous while the straight, less beautiful line, is used in relation to man in society.

Deb Selinger