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ID: 53
Ressource_Provider: Jérôme Bourgon
Title: Reading "ectstatic Joy" on a tormented face
Information: The picture published in Berthelot's article, "Les supplices chinois", settled the common belief that people suffering lingchi paradoxically resented "ecstatic joy". This greatly influenced various authors, the most famous being Bataille. A comparison between the picture and the photograph shows that this interpretation was determined, in fact, by cliched representations of Christian martyrs (here St Sebastian), which were superiimposed on an indecidable expression. The spanish painter Solana, though expressly influenced by Christian iconography (El Greco), shows not "joy" nor "ecstasis" in his Suplicio Chino, however.
Artworks
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1:Title:
Lingchi in Berthelot.
LA FIGURE D'UN SUPPLICIÉ PENDANT LE SUPPLICE
Pour ménager la sensibilité de nos lecteurs, nous ne reproduisons que le visage - étrangement extatique - d'un criminel auquel on est en train de faire subir l'épouvantable supplice des "Cent Morceaux". Déjà, on lui a désarticulé les jambes, coupé les bras, arraché les chairs de la poitrine, et il sourit, dans l'ivresse de l'opium. |
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2:Title:
St Sebastian (detail) |
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3:Title:
Suplicio Chino |
Photographs
Derniére modification le : 2006-05-31 |
