Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Morgue
Charles MeryonLinkedCulture matchlcp-e2ad521aa3d4
- Date
- 1854
- Medium
- Etching
- Department
- European Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 55611
From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
The Paris morgue was built in 1568 and stood on the south side of the Ile de la Cité along the small arm of the Seine. It was here that bodies of unknown persons who had drown or met with accidental death in the streets were laid on sloping marble tablets and displayed for three days. Relatives could come claim the bodies of their loved ones, or if unclaimed, the bodies were sent to the medical school for dissection. However, family members were not the only ones who came to view the bodies and the morgue became an unlikely tourist attraction. Meryon captures the morbid curiosity of this site in this print. His scene includes a body being pulled from the river witnessed by both weeping relatives and curious onlookers. France, Europe
The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Bequest of Mrs. Charles S. Pillsbury, 1958
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Minneapolis Institute of Art and other institutions.