The Duel After the Masquerade by Jean-Léon Gérôme

“The Duel After the Masquerade” by Jean-Léon Gérôme depicts a man dressed as a Pierrot who has been mortally wounded in a sword duel. He has collapsed into the arms of a friend.

A surgeon, dressed as a Doge of Venice, tries to stop the flow of blood, while the third person dressed as a priest clutches his head. The scene is set on a grey winter morning in forest, trees bare and snow covering the ground.

The survivor of the duel is dressed as an American Indian. He is walking away with his shoulders and head hunched down. He is supported by his second, who is dressed as Harlequin.

The wounded man is still holding his sword, in contrast to the victor who has dropped his sword, suggesting that the wounded duelist started the contest of honor.

The bizarreness of the scene with all the characters dressed in brightly colored costumes has turned into a tragedy.

A duel is an agreed engagement of combat between two people, with matched weapons, based on accepted Dueling Rules.

Duels were mainly practiced in early modern Europe with precedents in the medieval code of honor and continued into the early 20th century.

Duels were mostly fought with swords, but by the late 18th century in England, duels contests were more commonly fought using pistols.

The most notorious American duel was the Burr-Hamilton duel. Alexander Hamilton was fatally wounded by his political rival, the sitting Vice President of the United States, Aaron Burr. 

Another American politician, Andrew Jackson, later to become the seventh president, fought at least two duels. 

In 1842, future President Abraham Lincoln, who at the time was an Illinois state legislator, met to duel with state auditor James Shields. Fortunately, their seconds intervened and persuaded them against it.

The painting is a replica by Gérôme of his 1857 work “Suite d’un bal masqué.” It was not unusual for artists to replicate their pictures and other versions.

Jean-Léon Gérôme

Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824 – 1904) was a French painter and sculptor, and his body of work includes historical paintings, Greek Mythology, Orientalism, and portraits in the academic painting tradition.

Academic Art

Academic art is a style of painting, sculpture, and architecture produced under the influence of European academies of art. 

Academies using the French model formed throughout Europe, and imitated the teachings and styles of the French Académie.

From England, with the Royal Academy to Denmark with its Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, which was founded in 1754, European society was saturated with academic art by the end of the 19th century.

Ten Duel Commandments

“Ten Duel Commandments” is the fifteenth song from Act 1 of the musical Hamilton, based on the life of Alexander Hamilton.

Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote both the music and lyrics to the song.

These Duel Commandments are for dueling pistols and not sword duels, however, they are interesting to reflect on, for this art piece. In summary, they are:

1. A  challenge demands satisfaction unless there is an apology
2. Appoint a friend to be your second
3. The seconds meet to negotiate peace or a time and place
4. Organize for a doctor
5. Organize a secret location, not in public
6. Leave a note for your family
7. Pray and confess your sins
8. The seconds take the last opportunity to negotiate
9. Count to Ten
10. Fire pistols or attack with swords

The Duel After the Masquerade

• Title:                    The Duel After the Masquerade
• Artist:                  Jean-Léon Gérôme
• Year:                    1859
• Type:                   Oil on canvas
• Dimensions:        39.1 cm (15.3 in); 56.3 cm (22.1 in)
• Museum:             Walters Art Museum

Jean-Léon Gérôme

• Artist:                 Jean-Léon Gérôme
• Born:                 1824 – Vesoul, Haute-Saône, France
• Died:                  1904 (aged 79) – Paris, France
• Nationality:        French
• Movement:        Academicism, Orientalism
• Notable works:
  • Pygmalion and Galatea
  • The Cock Fight
  • The Duel After the Masquerade
  • Phryne before the Areopagus
  • Pollice Verso
  • L’Eminence Grise
  • Bonaparte Before the Sphinx
  • Bonaparte in Cairo
  • Napoleon in Egypt
  • Napoleon during his campaign in Egypt

The Duel After the Masquerade by Jean-Léon Gérôme

A Tour of the Walters Art Museum

• “The Duel After the Masquerade” by Jean-Léon Gérôme
• Ancient Sumerian Male Worshipper
• Padiiset’s Statue
• Mummy Portrait of a Bearded Man
• “The Sailor’s Wedding” by Richard Caton Woodville
• Portrait of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius
• “Sappho and Alcaeus” by Lawrence Alma-Tadema
• Diogenes by Jean-Léon Gérôme
• “Susannah and the Elders” by Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari
• Goyō Hashiguchi – Japanese Woodblock Artist – Ukiyo-e
• “Oedipus and the Sphinx” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
• “Diana Reposing” by Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry

Duels of Honor

“The Duel After the Masquerade”

Dueling: The Etiquette of Death

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“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
– Napoleon Bonaparte

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Photo Credit: 1) Jean-Léon Gérôme [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons; Sources:  1) Wikipedia; 2) Walters Art Museum web resources.