Les Romains de La Décadence

Les Romains de la décadence
(Illus. 1) Thomas Couture, Les Romains de la décadenceen, 1847, oil on canvas, H: 472,0 x L: 772,0 cm. musée
d’Orsay, Paris, France
I decided to go to the Musée d'orsay (virtually) located in Paris, France as there are many works by
French artists and there is one of my favorites which is called "Les Romains de la décadence" (romans
during the Decadence) by the amazing painter Thomas Couture.
Couture was one of the most important and influential academic painters of the 19th century.
Many famous artists, such as Manet, Fantin-Latour or Puvis de Chavannes, learned to paint in
their Paris workshop, although they later developed their own style, quite different from that of
their teacher. "The Romans of Decadence" is Couture's best-known painting. In theory, it is a
traditional painting, with a historical theme, gigantic format and an irreproachable academic
technique, in which drawing is given much more importance than color, as the canons required.
So far everything is correct. What was politically incorrect was the message that the artist wanted
to convey: all these drunken and lustful Romans, more concerned with the pleasures of life than
with serious things, like that empire that was falling apart, are a hard photocopy of the
government French at that time. Couture could be very classical in pictorial matters, but in
political matters he was a convinced republican who viewed the reign of Louis Philippe of
Orleans with very bad eyes. For the artist, the government was turning its back on all the
advances made during the French Revolution, which he equates in his painting to republican
Rome. The Roman Empire would be equivalent to the government of Napoleon and the decline,
to the reign of Louis Philippe. The truth is that he was not at all wrong with his prediction, since
the year after presenting this painting at the Paris Salon, the French people once again revolted
against their rulers and removed Louis Philippe from the throne, establishing the Second
Republic.
This painting features a very lascivious banquet scene. In a setting reminiscent of a palace (vast
colonnade and statues in the background, two other buildings in the background), many guests,
most of whom are partially undressed, seem drunkenly, slumped on the bed of table or putting on
a show. Some are crowned with foliage or flowers. In the foreground, clothes or fabrics are lying
on the ground, a crater is overturned, fruits and a garland of flowers have fallen ... This disorder
is accentuated by the structure, on the contrary very simple and regular, of the whole (lines
vertical and horizontal, two opposing triangles) and by the opposition in the luminous part of the
center between the majesty of the statue and the reclining woman.
The staging of the painting is reminiscent of Raphaël. In the center are the protagonists of the
Roman decadence, marked by their exhaustion (some still dance) and their intoxication (a man
being evacuated on the left of the painting while another, cut in his hand, provokes a god.
In the foreground three characters (a young boy seated on the left of the painting and two men on
the right) do not participate in the orgy and seem to disapprove of it. The stage is surrounded by
sculptures of ancient gods who also condemn this debauchery. Decadence is thus surrounded on
all sides by criticism.
Couture in fact uses this ancient scene to denounce the decadence of French society at the time,
which is sure to be noticed during the presentation of the painting.
In the center are the protagonists of the Roman decadence, marked by their exhaustion (even if
some still dance) and their intoxication (a man being evacuated on the left of the painting while
another cuts in his hand and provokes a god). We notice in the foreground three figures (a young
boy seated on the left of the painting and two men on the right) who do not participate in the
orgy. Around the figures are statues of Roman politicians, which create a contrast between the
aptitude of the figures in the midst of an orgy, like animals, and the seriousness of the statues
representing Roman grandeur.
The girl dressed in white in the foreground, seems to be watching us. From a distance it looks
like she has a cheeky look, but up close she shows pity and it looks like she didn't think she was
going to this orgy. Couture actually uses this ancient scene to denounce the decadence of French
society in his time through Roman society, which is sure to be noticed when the painting is
presented.
Technically, the most interesting thing about this work is how Couture has used contrasts to
contrast the ancient and the modern, the glorious past against the crappy present. The values of
the past are reflected in the architecture and the sculptures, with a predominance of vertical and
horizontal lines, a lot of drawing, little color and a perfect arrangement. The decadence of the
present is symbolized by a colorful, shapeless and chaotic mass of Romans, drinking, flirting,
dancing or sleeping the monkey. But it wasn't a plan to throw in the towel either. Even in the
worst civilization, there are always sensible people who can fight to change things, like those
two men who come in from the right and frown at the dismantle of their fellows, or the boy who
is sitting on the base of the table. sculpture on the left, lost in melancholic thoughts, and whose
serenity contrasts with the brown beast that has hung from the statue of an emperor to invite him
to drink from his glass in full alcoholic euphoria. As the Revolution of 1848 demonstrated, all
was not yet lost.
The artist criticizes the society of his time through Antiquity. He compares the people of his time
to animals, greedy and bestial, in the midst of an orgy, as was the case in Ancient Rome. The
world represented in this painting is an archaic society, rife with violence and anarchy. Thomas
Couture shows us that society has not evolved since Antiquity and retains all its vices through
the centuries.
By: Jessie B. Moran.
d'Orsay, Musée. “Thomas Couture Romains De La Décadence.” Musée D'Orsay: Thomas

Couture Romains De La Décadence, 31 July 2007, www.musee-
orsay.fr/fr/collections/oeuvres-commentees/recherche/commentaire_id/romains-de-la-
decadence-141.html?no_cache=1.

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By: Jessie B. Moran.

d'Orsay, Musée. “Thomas Couture Romains De La Décadence.” Musée D'Orsay: Thomas

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