with love, les saltimbanques
There’s an eerie anticipation for what will happen next.
Everybody seems frozen knowing that the inevitable will take place yet holding their breaths in a tense situation hoping for the opposite. You want to stay quiet for the sake of the mother, so she can calm her dying child with her motherly love one last time.
Look at the father, so heartbroken. I interpret two different emotions from each parent. The father, wanting to console his son but allowing him to be comforted by his mother (as most children often wants). A mixture of emotions alternating between giving the mother and child their alone time amidst grieving the loss of a child. But I also sense a feeling of guilt. As if it was his idea to put their child to work despite protests from the mother. And then this happened. He has so much to say but where does one begin? Perhaps that’s why we see only the mother soothing their son.
Speaking of the mother, I get the feeling that she regrets going along with her husband’s decision. Internally blaming herself for the demise of her precious child, quietly asking for forgiveness. Maybe it’s just me, but I imagine her humming a tune to her son like she used to so many times before. Shedding many tears, knowing that her humming, which once was used to calm her crying child, is now consoling him for his eternal sleep while keeping her composure not to frighten her son. Her last act of motherly love. And I imagine it being quiet around them with only the mothers humming being heard. Ghostly and somber, even inconsolable.
Gustav Doré (1832-1883)
Painted in 1874, the French artist was inspired by a real-life event where he witnessed a child tragically die during a circus performance, which obviously impacted him greatly. Enough to create this beautiful and heart-wrenching piece of art.
If you wish to learn more:
This Painting Is More Than a Scene from a Circus (video 5min 32sek)
The Heart-Breaking Story of this Painting Will Force You to Make a Choice (video, 8min)
Other artworks that I’ve written about: Lover of art
René Magritte
Carl Vilhelm Holsøe
Christ in the storm on the Sea of Galilee
The lunatic of Étretat
The execution of Lady Jane Grey
