There's a Floating Corpse 1892

Auguste-Louis Lepère made this etching titled 'There's a Floating Corpse,' showing a Parisian crowd gathered on a bridge, their attention drawn to something in the river below. In this period, France was undergoing rapid urbanization, and the Seine River was a vital artery for commerce and transportation. Lepère highlights the city's social fabric by depicting the morbid fascination that draws people together in public spaces. The composition emphasizes the act of looking and the spectacle of death within the bustling life of the city. Lepère, as an artist, was deeply involved in the revival of printmaking as a fine art. His engagement with social themes reflected the growing public interest in urban life, and one might research crime statistics or newspaper accounts of accidental deaths to get more background on this image. By analyzing the social and institutional context, we can better understand the many levels of meaning evoked by this image.