The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Pierrot in Criminal Court

Pierrot in Criminal Court

c. 1864–70
(French, 1815–1879)
Framed: 45.8 x 52.1 x 5.2 cm (18 1/16 x 20 1/2 x 2 1/16 in.); Unframed: 32.2 x 39.2 cm (12 11/16 x 15 7/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

In this painting, Couture used two famous masked characters, Pierrot and Harlequin, to satirize and critique the public and the judicial system of the 19th century. The pathetic Pierrot represents a lower-class fool on trial for stealing food from a restaurant. The stolen items are depicted lying on the courtroom floor as an indictment of his guilt. His accusers sit on the left, while Harlequin, his lawyer, argues theatrically for the defense. The artist's contempt for the legal profession and the court system is plain in the figures of the sleeping judges. A mid-19th-century observer may have sympathized with Pierrot, who for his own survival cunningly subverts authority in order to satisfy his needs.
  • Jay Gould. J. Rougeron, New York, NY
    Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, United Kingdom
    A. Saloman
    December 3, 1976
    (Christie's, London, December 3, 1976, lot 105)
    by 1977–1980
    Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland, OH bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1980–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163–219. Mentioned: p. 212, no. 40; Reproduced: p. 162, no. 40 www.jstor.org
    Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 173-177, Vol. I, no. 65
  • Louisville, Ky., J. B. Speed Art Museum. The Mask of Comedy: The Art of Italian Commedia (1990), no. 50; fig. 50.
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=Pierrot in Criminal Court|url=false|author=Thomas Couture|year=c. 1864–70|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.250