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Notre-Dame de Paris
About the Artwork
Victor Hugo's celebrated 1831 novel Notre-Dame de Paris tells the story of Quasimodo, a disfigured orphan raised by the archdeacon of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Hugo's novel became an important influence on many artists and helped to define a poetic view of the medieval period and of Gothic architecture that lasted well into the second half of the century. This drawing by Luc-Olivier Merson was reproduced as a wood engraving in an illustrated tribute to Hugo published in 1881.
Inscriptions
signed, lower right, in black ink: Luc Olivier Merson; verso, lower center, in graphite: [S Fauti?] J [Dumoni?] 4; lower center, in graphite: [torchon?] / [illegible] Bristol blanc style ancien; lower center, in graphite: 56 - 42 Cadre
Provenance
1975: (sale, Hôtel Georges V, Paris, June 25, 1975, no. 106) 1976: (sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, May 14, 1976, no. 263, sold to Muriel Butkin, Shaker Heights, OH) 1976-2008: Muriel Butkin [1916-2008], Shaker Heights, OH, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH 2008-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002). Fairy Tales and Fables: Illustration and Storytelling in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 4-September 8, 2024).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Luc-Olivier Merson (French, 1846–1920)
- Date
- c. 1881
- Medium
- pen and black ink, brush and black wash, white gouache and graphite on paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 32.6 x 21.7 cm (12 13/16 x 8 9/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Bequest of Muriel Butkin
- Accession no.
- 2008.359
More by Luc-Olivier Merson in museum collections
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (recto); Sketch of a Sphinx [?] (verso)
Luc-Olivier Mersonc. 1879–80 · Drawing
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011153
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