Lélio: The Aeolian Harp, from Hector Berlioz, sa vie et ses oeuvres
Henri Fantin-Latour (French, 1836-1904)
1888
- Medium
- Lithograph in black on off-white China paper, laid down on white wove paper (chine collé)
- Classification
- Dimensions
- Image: 23.1 × 15.1 cm (9 1/8 × 6 in.); Sheet: 30.6 × 22.7 cm (12 1/16 × 8 15/16 in.)
- Culture
- France
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Prints and Drawings
- Credit line
- The Charles Deering Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Hector Berlioz created Lélio, a work incorporating both music and spoken text, as a sequel to his Symphonie Fantastique. Like its predecessor, Lélio tells the story of a failed love affair, but it also describes the artist’s turn to music as an antidote to his heartbreak. This lithograph depicts Lélio’s fifth song, in which the artist listens to an Aeolian harp. Played by the wind, this wooden instrument served as an important symbol of artistic inspiration during the Romantic era.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
