Le Vérité sur Le Cas de M. Valdemar (The Truth about the Case of M. Valdemar). Alphonse LeGros.Etching in dark brown ink on ivory paper. 10¾ x 15 inches (27.4 x 38.0 cm) – plate mark. Collection of the British Museum, registration no. 1875,0612.393. Click on image to enlarge it.
Poe’s short story “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” tells the tale of a mesmerist who puts a man dying with tuberculosis named Ernest Valdemar into a suspended hypnotic state at the moment of his death. Seven months later the mesmerist attempts to bring Valdemar back from the dead but when he tries to awaken him from the hypnotic state Valdemer’s entire body immediately begins to decay into putrescence.
In his etching Legros portrays four old men standing around and looking at the body of Valdemar in the bed. The central figure with outstretched hands is obviously the mesmerist while the others are likely the physicians who witness the experiment. Another figure is leaving and turns to look back through the door on the right. — Dennis T. Lanigan
Last modified 24 November 2022