A Christening in Revolutionary France

late 18th century

A Christening in Revolutionary France, late 18th century. Jean-Baptiste Mallet (French, 1759–1835). Pen and brown and gray inks and red chalk and watercolor, heightened with white; squaring for transfer; sheet: 33.3 x 44.6 cm (13 1/8 x 17 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2017.213 Mallet’s image depicts a Republican baptism ceremony during the French Revolution. The event takes place in a magnificent Gothic church, identifiable as such by its pointed arches and stained glass window. A mother presents her infant to the priest who raises his right hand as he administers the sacrament. Even the musicians pause from playing to watch this spectacle.