Apocalyptic Moods in J. Grandville’s Animalistic Caricature

Abstract

J. Grandville’s ironic depictions of humanized animals were popular with French audiences, whose contemporaries and morals became the object of denunciation. The perennial tradition of comparing man and beast was accentuated in the 18th and 19th centuries as new scientific theories appeared. These theories called into question the primacy of man and relegated him to the animal class, thereby greatly complicating the philosophical discourse on the animal being, in which French artists were also involved. In Grandville’s caricature, the juxtaposition of civilization and natural savagery moved to another level, serving not only to play on the commonplaceness of fellow citizens, topical scientific statements and physiognomic studies, but also to channel apocalyptic moods. By creating an otherworldly, mirror image of the human world in his zoomorphic drawings, the master concealed behind humour the speculation about its collapse. Fatalism is perceived in the images of beasts that have replaced humans, have taken their place and have governed their state; in the incorrigibility of characters and patterns of behaviour (predator — prey); and in the physical destruction of the world. This is most fully expressed in the “Un Autre Monde” cycle, whose goal was the need to create a new universe to replace the obsolete globe. Despite the obvious tragedy of such a vision, Grandville presented a sense of doom and imperfection in the form of amusing anthropomorphic animals.

Keywords

• jean grandville
• french graphics
• the 19th century
• animalistic genre
• apocalypse
• caricature