CHARLES-MELCHIOR DESCOURTIS,
French, 1753 - 1820;
after JEAN-FREDERIC SCHALL, French, 1752-1825
The Death of Virginie from Paul and Virginie
color aquatint
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 2001.9.8

In this scene, the faithful slave, Domingue, has found
Virginie’s body washed ashore. His strong back offers a vivid depiction of his profound grief. The violence of the stormy sea and sky echoes his torment.  While wind rips through the scene, Domingue remains and grounded in his sorrow.

As a loyal servant, and as almost as a part of the family, Domingue laments with the narrator over the death of his mistress.  Domingue’s presence in the barren landscape is too powerful and ambivalent to be subsumed into the narrative.  Is Domingue here a loyal servant, or a rebel slave?

Pamela Whedon