Corsican Bertuccio - before he became steward of the Count of Monte Cristo 1846

Paul Gavarni, a 19th-century French artist, created this lithograph depicting the character Bertuccio before he became steward of the Count of Monte Cristo. Gavarni made a name for himself illustrating novels in a serial format, responding to the rise of mass culture. He often turned his eye to the lives of ordinary people, especially the working class of Paris. The image before us presents a character from Alexandre Dumas’s popular novel "The Count of Monte Cristo", set in early 19th-century France and Italy. The character of Bertuccio is depicted here as a Corsican, a native of an island with a history of banditry and vendetta, foreshadowing his violent and vengeful nature. Corsica was annexed by France in 1768, and the representation of Bertuccio engages with France's colonial imagination. Looking at Gavarni's image, we can research the cultural context surrounding both Corsica and the serial novels of 19th-century France to better understand their production and reception.