The Night Review 1837

Curator: This is "The Night Review" by Auguste Raffet, created sometime before his death in 1860, now residing here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: A dense, dark scene! The oppressive feeling is almost palpable, with the figures blending into this ominous wave. Curator: It's powerful, isn’t it? Raffet masterfully uses the lithographic process to create this sense of mass and movement. Consider the labor involved in producing so many near-identical images for distribution. Editor: The composition is really interesting—that implied line of soldiers draws the eye right across the picture plane. And that pale moon in the background offers a rather chilling light. Curator: Exactly. And think of the social context—France after Napoleon, rife with military imagery and anxieties about power. This print circulated widely. Editor: So, we see how technique and composition create such an impactful scene. Curator: Indeed, and how that relates to its broader dissemination and meaning.