The Triumph of Justice and Truth
1865
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Nicolas-François Chifflart
Nicolas-François Chifflart (1825–1901) was a French artist, born in Saint-Omer.
See the richer artist page1865
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Triumph of Justice and Truth is a 1865 by Nicolas-François Chifflart, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see two winged figures—one in armor, one in flowing robes—floating above a dark, swirling crowd. The armored figure holds a sword and scales, while the robed one points upward, as if guiding the way. This isn’t a grand history painting. It’s a print, small enough to hold in your hands, meant for quiet looking. Chifflart drew directly onto copper plates, treating them like sketch paper, which gave his lines a loose, almost urgent feel. The medium let him experiment, blending sharp details with smoky shadows. If you like how this feels, look up *sfumato*—the technique of soft, blurred edges that makes the figures seem to dissolve into the background.
François-Nicolas Chifflart was an important member of the etching revival in 19th-century France. This print, from his 1865 series Improvisations on Copper , reveals the freedom and experimentation that Chifflart found in this medium. He drew directly on prepared copper plates, sketching as he would on a sheet of paper, to create both anecdotal studies and imaginative finished compositions. Executed on an intimate scale, the prints encouraged close looking and private contemplation.
The prints of series like François-Nicolas Chifflart’s Improvisations on Copper were often separated over time; complete sets like this one are rare today.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Nicolas-François Chifflart (1825–1901) was a French artist, born in Saint-Omer.
See the richer artist page
