Context and Narrative in Photography

Basics Creative Photography 2nd

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 Maria Short, Sri-Kartini
Leet and Elisavet Kalpaxi
 BASICS Maria Short
Sri-Kartini Leet
creative photography Elisavet Kalpaxi

02

CONTEXT AND
NARRATIVE IN
PHOTOGRAPHY
2nd
edition

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Context and Narrative in Photography

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First published 2005 by Bloomsbury Academic

Published 2020 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

First edition published in Great Britain in 2005 by AVA Publishing SA as

Basics Creative Photography 02: Context + Narrative

Copyright © Taylor & Francis 2020

Cover design: Irene Martinez Costa

Cover image © Seba Kurtis
Original series design: Atelier www.atelier.ie

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

Series: Basics Creative Photography

Typeset by Lachina Creative, Inc.

◊
ISBN 13: 978-1-4742-9117-0 (pbk) Title: Shared Shrines: Orthodox-
Muslim Interactions at ‘Mixed
Shrines’ in Macedonia, 2010
Photographer: Glenn Bowman
Bowman’s anthropological
research on Christians and Muslims
sharing religious shrines in the
West Bank and in North Macedonia
supports his assertion that ‘in
certain contexts the identities of
those engaged in shrine practices
might be relatively ‘unfixed’, an
ambiguity that is reflected in this
image itself. Photographs contain
visual clues that engage its viewers
in its reading, hinting at its broader
context and meaning.

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2–3

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Context and Narrative

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Introduction 6

1
The photograph 9
2
Visual approaches 43
3
Contexts of
Levels of truth 10 The photographic brief 44 presentation 83
Research and Choosing your subject 50 Blurred boundaries/
documentation 32 shifting meanings 84
Equipment and
Case study 1: materials 58 The ‘expanded field’
‘The Regency Project’ of photography 86
Process as
– Richard Rowland 34 conceptual rationale 64 Contextual distortion 92
Case study 2: Developing an ability Engaging with
‘Miss Grace’s Lane’ to improvise 68 audiences 96
– Keith Arnatt 36 Case study 1:
The influence of
Case study 3: personal background 70 ‘The King Alfred’
‘Observation Point’ at – Simon Carruthers 102
Case study 1:
Camden Arts Centre Case study 2:
‘Homeless Ex-Service’
– Zoe Leonard 38 ‘Foreigner: Migration
– Stuart Griffiths 72
Exercises: into Europe 2015–2016’
Case study 2:
Considering the – John Radcliffe Studio 106
‘Even This Will Pass’
photograph 40 Case study 3:
– Aida Silvestri 76
‘From Here I Saw What
Exercises:
Happened and I Cried’
Discovering your
– Carrie Mae Weems 110
subject; formulating
your approach 80 Exercises:
Considering contexts
and meanings 114

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Contents

4
Visual narrativity 117
5
Photographic
6
Image and text 179
What is narrative? 118 discourse 151 The linguistic message 180
Visual continuity Semiosis 152 Integrated text 186
and uniformity 124 Time and narrativity 156 Case study 1:
Polyphase images 128 Symbolic meaning 160 ‘Towards a
Authorial intent 140 Practical techniques 168 Promised Land’
– Wendy Ewald 206
Case study 1: Case study 1:
‘Full Circle’ Selected Works Case study 2:
– Susan Derges 142 – Mari Mahr 170 ‘The Life and Times
of Strider Wolf’
Case study 2: Case study 2:
– Jessica Rinaldi 210
‘Biblical Stories’, ‘Something Is Missing’
‘The Prisoners’, and – Jean-Marc Exercises:
‘The Village’ – Adi Nes 144 Bustamante 174 Using text 214
Exercises: Exercises:
Deconstructing Variations on a theme 176
the narrative 148
Conclusion 217
References 218
Online resources 222
Image credits 223
Index 225
About the authors 228

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Introduction
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Most of us are surrounded by photographs;
they perform a variety of roles and
functions within and around our lives. From
advertising images and news photographs
to artworks on gallery walls or within
digital collections, photographic images
have become a ubiquitous presence in
contemporary culture. Its applications
range from everyday usage, for example,
in the ‘selfie’ taken on a mobile phone to
more distinct, specialized applications such
as medical photography to aid scientific
study. For some of us, photographs may be
among our most treasured possessions.
Photographs tell us of the past; they can
inform and contain memories. Photographs
can aid in the construction of and influence
our identity and our relationships with others.
Photographs can promote the sharing of
ideas, concepts and beliefs. They can
also distort the truth; photographs can be
highly subjective works of propaganda,
they can be created and used responsibly
or irresponsibly. As with most forms of
visual communication, photographs reflect
and promote particular ideologies.
Context is crucial to how photographic
images communicate meaning. Context
can be described as the circumstances
that form the setting for an event, statement
or idea. In photography, it can relate
to the contents of the photograph, its
placement in relation to words or other
images, the site of display or place in
which it is encountered or published, and
the broader social, cultural, historical and
geographical context. Narrative refers to
a spoken or written account of connected
events, a story that can convey an idea.
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In using photography to tell a story or
convey an idea, visual narrative techniques
can be employed to create and develop
frames of reference and specific contexts
for the story, hold the attention of the
audience and enable them to relate in
some way to the story and its intention.
In other words, narrative techniques are
used to provide meaning and coherence
to a standalone photograph or a set of
images. The context and narrative of a
photograph can work in a variety of ways
to enable effective visual communication.
This book explores the concepts and
mechanics behind the picture-making
process in relation to context and narrative.
It offers an introduction to some of the
theoretical ideas that underpin and inform
contemporary photographic practice and
debate, extending this analysis to explore
the ways in which photographers and
artists have employed strategies to develop
a coherent visual language. This book
addresses photography as a creative and
academic endeavour. It is intended for
students and developing photographers
to support their understanding of the
relationship between practice and
theory, as they define specific visual
approaches to image-making. While it is
possible to learn practical techniques and
engage with theoretical debate, there is
no prescribed formula in practice. The
creative, thinking photographer makes
decisions around the appropriate
application of techniques informed by
theoretical understanding, based upon their
personal approach to visual language.
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The book is divided broadly into two Contexts of presentation
sections. The first three chapters focus
Chapter 3 examines the ‘external’ context
on aspects of context; namely ‘internal’,
of the photograph and how audiences’
‘original’ and ‘external’ context. Building
interpretations are affected by how
upon the concepts raised in the first
and where images are encountered.
half of the book, the final three chapters
Contemporary practices where images
specifically address the narrative
transgress the boundaries or contexts within
mechanics of visual language, exploring
which they were original made (for example,
narrative devices in making meaning.
blurred definitions of traditional genres,
found photography etc.) and aspects of
The photograph photographic presentation are discussed.
Chapter 1 explores the photograph’s
‘internal’ context: its content, form and Visual narrativity
choice of medium. Highlighting the
Chapter 4 analyses notions of visual
photograph as a construction, notions
narrativity and explores a range of narrative
of truth and reality within traditions
devices that are employed to make meaning.
in photography are discussed.

Photographic discourse
Visual approaches
Chapter 5 introduces basic theory
Chapter 2 discusses visual methodologies
surrounding the use and reading of signs
and identifies a range of considerations
and symbols within photographs. It explores
to be made when either creating or
how photographs communicate and their
responding to a brief, including an
potential for narrative development.
understanding of context that informs
our decisions. Elements of the creative
process, from concept, research, to Image/Text
practical production are explored.
Chapter 6 explores the dynamic relationship
between text and image and the myriad
ways in which photographers and artists
utilize these interactions in innovative ways.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB ∆ Contents | Introduction | The photograph ◊

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The
photograph
∆ Looking at photographs is based on recognition. As
Title: The Photograph, 1981
Artist: Luis Camnitzer
As simple as this may sound, a
photograph can be defined by
its difference to other mediums,
e.g. painting, drawing, or
sculpture. As opposed to
these, photography is a
photo-mechanical medium that
records fragments of this world
as they appear to a particular
observer and at a particular
moment in time. Camnitzer’s
work reveals one more quality
of photographs: transparency.
Often, when looking at
photographs, we look at the
content and forget that we are
dealing with yet another means
of representation.
1
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9781474291170_txt_app.indb 9
with any other image type, viewers recognize shapes
and decode messages, or narratives. Nevertheless,
looking at photographs also implies an awareness
of the means by which the images were produced.
Essentially, photographs are always of the past. These
documented moments can be made with different
intentions and can be used in many ways to bring
relevance to the present. Understanding how these
contexts can affect an image’s role and meaning
is most significant (in his 1990 book Criticizing
Photographs [96], Terry Barrett calls these the ‘original’
and ‘external’ context of a photograph respectively),
and it is the main topic of the next two chapters of
this book; however, the viewers’ expectations of the
medium, their expectations of the ‘internal’ context of
‘The Photograph’, which is the main concern of this
first chapter, underlies all other understandings and
ultimately defines this conundrum that is photography.
An image’s references to reality, to ‘truth’, as well
as notions of form and materiality, are determining
factors in photography. These considerations are
sometimes overlooked because of the presumed
directness and objectivity of the photographic
image; their significance becomes more apparent
in ‘unreal’, constructed images that invite questions
such as: What is it that makes us think that we deal
with photographs when we look at images that do
not respond to reality? The answer to this, which is
explored in the next sections of this chapter, but is
also central throughout this book, seems to be that
photography’s realism, or the particular realism of the
photographic image, allows us to immerse ourselves
in an image as if it were part of reality, creating
immediate, yet complex, forms of engagement.
∆ Introduction | The photograph | Visual approaches ◊
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Levels of truth
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Debates concerning truth and reality have
surrounded photography since its inception.
Photographs have the ability to literally
depict visual appearances, but they can
also be subjectively, conceptually and
technically constructed or manipulated
to present a particular view or idea (the
latter ties in with the ‘original context’ of
the photograph and the photographer’s
intentions that are explored in greater
detail in chapter 2, ‘Visual Approaches’).
Most photographs do both: they replicate
appearances, but they also conceal the
codes and decisions that have been
imposed onto the reality they represent.
Even the most accurate photograph of
an object differs from the object itself.
This refers to the object’s transformation
from a three-dimensional entity into a
two-dimensional one and the related
lens distortions; changes in size, texture,
colour etc.; and the context in which the
image is shown (see chapter 3, ‘Contexts
of Presentation’). In their pursuit of the
perfect document, photographers often
create images that no longer respond
to the object as we would experience
it in reality. The resulting paradox is
that the photograph reveals more than
what empirical reality has to offer.
Photography’s capacity to divert from reality
becomes significant in documentary or
photojournalism, where questions such
as ‘whose truth?’ come to centre stage.
Codes of ethics ensure transparency, but
the photographer’s view is always and
necessarily a selective one and is influenced
by his/her viewpoint, ideas and aspirations.
Also the vast number of faked/transformed
or manipulated images that surface in
mainstream media outlets suggests that
transparency is just an expectation.
9781474291170_txt_app.indb 10
At the other end of the spectrum is
the argument that the photographer’s
responsibility lies with the ideas he/she
communicates. In order to engage the
viewer and evoke ideas, photographs
need to communicate fluently; this is
hardly the case if the photographer
operates as just an assistant to the
camera, which is presumed to record
objectively whatever is in front of its lens.
The fashion and advertising industries
have traditionally employed photography
to promote and idealize products. Their
commitment to images does not lie
with objective truth but the creation of
suggestive realities, dreams and fantasies of
perfection. If these suggestive realities are
likely to mislead or deceive the consumer,
again there are mechanisms that protect
consumer rights. And then there is art,
whose purpose is to reveal an altogether
different truth that is reserved for art alone.
Photography’s complex relationship
to truth and reality has led to a whole
field of enquiry that belongs unto itself.
Photography is ever-evolving, but some
ideas that have surrounded the medium
since its invention persist. For example,
the capacity to manipulate images has
increased with the advent of digital
technologies, but this development does not
undermine the realism of the photographic
image and its ability to give evidence,
provoke thought or create beauty.
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Images are invested with expectations, Indeed, in the following years photography
and dependent upon the desired result, became a main tool for documentation.
the photographer will engage with these Museums, the police, scientists and
‘levels of truth’ in varying degrees, in schools all developed archives containing
both a practical and conceptual manner. photographic documents. Geophotography,
The following pages provide a brief archaeological photography, art
overview of some of the basic functions reproduction, microscopic photography,
of a photograph in order to explore these medical imaging (such as X-rays or MRI
‘levels of truth’ in different photographic scans), police mugshots and crime-
approaches. By no means an exhaustive scene photography are only some of the
or definitive list, the groupings highlight genres that emerged out of this desire
basic points relevant to some generalized to document the world. Photographic
functions of the photograph that will inform documentation became the most common
the photographer’s approach in relation method of gathering information for
to notions of truth and reality and project analysis, and in a variety of disciplines.
development, as well as an image’s
The main function of photographic
production and reception, which are
documents is to depict or record the visual
explored further in the next two chapters.
appearance of something, someone or
someplace. These photographs exist as
The literal depiction of appearances evidence; so in these circumstances, the
main thrust of the photographer’s goal
In his 1844 book The Pencil of Nature,
is to produce high-quality images that
William Talbot, one of the principal
replicate the subject as closely as possible
inventors of photography, presents some
and according to the specifications
potential applications of the newly invented
indicated by the respective discipline.
medium. Talbot suggests that in the future
To achieve this, the photographer is
photography could provide a valuable
required to be technically expert and make
solution to archivists, publishers and
choices dependent upon equipment,
collectors who would be able to record,
lighting, composition and quality.
copy and enlarge images faster and more
accurately than ever before. Photography
still had a long way to go towards
expanding tonal range and recording
colour, but its potential in documenting
was already evident. As a mechanistic
medium, which was produced using the
‘pencil of nature’, ‘without any aid whatever
from the artist’s pencil’ (Talbot 1844: 96),
photography could potentially guarantee
impartiality and objectivity, two main
qualifying characteristics of documents.

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 ∞
Title: Sandy Springs Bank
Robbery, c.1920
Photographer Unknown, Courtesy
of National Photo Company
Collection (Library of Congress)
A scene-of-crime photograph;
note the level of attention paid
to exposure and tonal quality,
thereby allowing the image to be as
detailed as possible.

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Enhancing the accuracy of a The documentary tradition –
photographic document truth or fiction?
The photographic camera cannot produce
• Think in advance: Which parts of the
an image out of a vacuum; therefore,
object/person/location are important
documenting or recording reality could be
to include/highlight in the image? This
seen as an inherent call of the medium.
relates to the purpose and use of the
However, documentary photography
image. In the case of documenting
exceeds the sole purpose of documentation.
the effects of a blizzard, for instance,
a clearly identifiable object like a In What is Documentation? Suzanne Briet
car buried under the snow will be (1951: 9–10) defines a ‘document’ as ‘a
clearer than a wide-open landscape. proof in support of a fact’. ‘Documentary
production’, on the other hand, is a
• If possible, isolate the subject. If
process whereby documents are ‘selected,
you are documenting a small object,
analyzed, described, translated’. As such,
include a plain background, or, if on
documentary photography illustrates a
location documenting, for example,
secondary process of selection, analysis,
a building or architectural structure,
description and translation of facts.
choose a quiet time of day.
This also applies to photojournalism,
• Use direct/frontal camera angle which is a subgenre of documentary
and a telephoto lens to avoid that implies a weightier relationship with
perspective distortions. This is current events, text and news stories.
particularly important when recording
In simple terms, documentary photography
abstract shapes and objects
and photojournalism can both refer to
that viewers are not familiar with,
the photographic telling of a story with
such as an abstract sculpture.
a particular intention. Storytelling in
• Illuminate the object from the sides to photography is extensively discussed in the
avoid reflections. When photographing second part of this book; what matters here
paintings, for example, it is important is the character of these intentions. Karin
to eliminate reflections that could Becker Ohrn (1980: 36) offers a definition
be perceived as part of the work. that hints at this: ‘The photographer’s goal
was to bring the attention of an audience to
• Avoid harsh shadows: use
the subject of his or her work and, in many
soft light or a cloudy sky.
cases, to pave the way for social change.’
• A sharp lens and high resolution, Effecting social change requires a degree
or a fine grain film, can bring of responsibility, but it does not necessarily
up the detail of the subject. guarantee objectivity or access to truth.
• For best results, use a medium/
large format camera and a tripod.
• Use maximum aperture to
increase depth of field.
• If scale/colour is important,
include size/colour scales.

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Levels of truth

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◊
Title: Dr. Ceriani Examines a
Boy’s Hand, 1948
Photographer: Eugene Smith

For example, the photographic stories of Documentary photography may not be

British publication Picture Post (1938–1957)
and American publication Life Magazine
(1936–1972) were mass-produced and
distributed and had the capacity to affect
people’s perceptions, but they were also
often staged. It is an open secret, for
example, that stories such as Eugene
Smith’s ‘The Country Doctor’ for Life in 1948
were staged. The story was written before
the editors of Life had even identified a
suitable doctor or a potential photographer.
Further, Eugene Smith (2013) never
denied that he was staging his images.
entirely objective, but, as is also highlighted
in chapter 2, ‘Visual Approaches’, it can be
considered the means of conveying what
the photographer feels to be the spirit or
essence of a person, place or event. Social
documentary is rooted in the photographer’s
experience of the subject and can offer a
visual experience in order to initiate, share
or convey an understanding or a narrative
that goes beyond words. Documentary and
photojournalism require the photographer’s
involvement with the subject; a sense of
responsibility toward the photographic
brief, subject and audience; and the
ability to negotiate with ethical issues.

‘I ask and arrange if I feel it is legitimate.

The honesty lies in my – the photographer’s –
ability to understand.’
Eugene Smith, 1956 (Smith 2013)

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∞
Title: from ‘Boys and Girls’, Gladys, East London, 2009
Photographer: Shaleen Temple

Temple describes her series of culture is something I grew up with.

photographs as follows: ‘This
project is about black South
Africans who work in white South
African homes. Growing up in
South Africa before moving to the
UK means that this part of African
The project questions how far the
country has come since the end of
the apartheid. It also looks at the
relationship between the workers
and their white employers’
(Temple, 2010).

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A different kind of truth other mediums – as happened, for example,
in pictorialist photography in the late
Photography’s capacity to record the world
nineteenth century that imitated painting in
did not only influence the development of
introducing colour, texture and atmosphere
documentary photography. Principles of
achieved through the physical manipulation
objective and/or subjective adaptation of
of prints. In The Photographer’s Eye John
reality inspired photographers working in
Szarkowski suggests: ‘It should be possible
all genres, including fine art photography.
to consider the history of the medium
Considering that the conventions regulating
in terms of photographers’ progressive
content and presentation that apply in other
awareness of characteristics and problems
genres do not apply in art, photography’s
that have seemed inherent in the medium’
possibilities for expression in this field are
(1966: 7). In this particular book, the
limitless. Nevertheless, despite the exciting
characteristics that photographers became
potential of this plurality of possibilities, the
progressively aware of and increasingly
question of ‘what art-photography should
drew their attention to consist of: ‘the thing
be?’ has dominated the field since the
itself’, meaning the objects and scenes
beginning, and the answers vary greatly.
that the photographer points their camera
One answer that still dominates today is at, ‘the detail’, ‘the frame’, representation
that photography should be concerned ‘time’, and ‘vantage point’. This shift of
with its own characteristics as a mechanical attention from the work’s social function
medium of recording instead of trying to to photography’s inherent characteristics
imitate techniques and styles coming from illustrates photographic formalism.

‘A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about

what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is,
thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its
entirety. And the expression of what one feels should be set
forth in terms of simple devotion to the medium a statement of
the utmost clarity and perfection possible under the conditions
of creation and production.’
Ansel Adams, 1943: 378

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∞
Title: The Valley of the Shadow of Death, 1855
Photographer: Roger Fenton
The Photographer’s Eye contains
documentary images that are
arranged according to their
emphasis on one of the ‘formal’
photographic characteristics (‘the
thing itself’, ‘the detail’, ‘the frame’,
representation ‘time’, and ‘vantage
point’) without any reference to the
photographers’ intentions or the
issues addressed in the images.
Roger Fenton’s image from the
Crimean War, for example, is
included as an example of an
image presenting emphasis on ‘the
detail’. The description of the work
in the book is reduced to its title.

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Formalism is a mode of visual analysis
that was influenced by principles
dominating art in the 1920s and which has
received much criticism for ignoring the
photographers’ intentions and for a lack of
social considerations. However, there is also
a whole range of images that have been
made with formal issues in mind. From the
1920s onwards, a strand of photographers
– including Edward Weston, Ansel Adams,
Minor White and others – started depicting
the world using sharp lenses and fine-grain
film, as well as techniques such as the
zone system – Ansel Adams’s technique
for identifying optimal exposure to create
images of immense clarity, detail and tonal
range. The value of these works does not
lie in their use as ‘proof in support of a fact’
(see previous section), but in their aesthetic
value and their reference to genres that
had traditionally been linked to art, i.e.
the landscape, the still life, the nude.
Formalist principles were also embraced
by New Topographics, a photography
movement characterized by deadpan
aesthetics and a sense of detached
objectivity. This style defined the work of
a number of different photographers who
were active in the 1970s, both in Europe
and Northern America, whose work came
together in an influential exhibition at George
Eastman House in 1975. The show was
titled ‘New Topographics: Photographs of
a Man-Altered Landscape’ and provided
a name, an umbrella term, that since then
illustrates the work of a number of different
photographers that shares similar principles
and aesthetic values. The work of New
Topographics photographers, such as
the images of industrial structures taken
9781474291170_txt_app.indb 18
by Bernd and Hilla Becher in post-war
Germany, could find no use outside gallery
spaces. Their typologies are reminiscent
of archive records, but the Bechers had
no desire to associate their work with any
scientific or historical research, nor did
they think that their work could be useful to
researchers; their interests lay with pattern,
rhythm and repetition. What kind of ‘truth’
could such work that operates outside social
realities reveal? According to Blake Stimson
(2004), the value of the Bechers’ work lies in
pleasure and commitment, without any aim
or personal/collective interest. This idea may
contradict the principles of documentary
photography, but it resonates with much
photography in contemporary art and
ties in with philosophical investigations of
aesthetics dating back to the Enlightenment.
◊
Title: ‘Colours of Ethiopia’:
Somali VI, 2014 and ‘Colours of
Ethiopia’: Somali VIII, 2014
Photographer: Leikun Nahusenay
Nahusenay’s series ‘Colours of
Ethiopia’ documents everyday
life in Jijiga, Ethiopia’s Somali
capital. The images replicate signs
of documentary photography
in terms of content, but his
choice of double-exposure, the
images’ saturated colours and
superimposed textures encourage
an emphasis on form. This body of
work presents a tension between
content and form, through which
the series also achieves its
meaning.
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18–19

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Levels of truth

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Even though the distinction between ‘mastery’ of the photographer, and the
form and content has, for a number of punctum, a detail or a set of details that
years, marked the difference between hold his gaze for much longer and manage
photography in art and general culture, to stir emotions and forgotten memories.
more recently the boundaries between the
This distinction between the studium and
two have started to dissolve. As will also
the punctum does not only apply to images
be discussed in chapter 3, ‘Contexts of
that we see in books and exhibitions but
Presentation’, documentary photography
also to images of people we know. Barthes
is now comfortably shown in art galleries
is in the apartment in which his mother
and museums, and the emphasis on
died, looking through a collection of her
colour or composition does not seem to
photographs; looking, in his words, for ‘the
challenge the documentary value of a
truth of the face I had loved’ (Barthes 1980:
work. The current consensus seems to be
67). Eventually he finds a photograph that
that both form and content contribute to
contains aspects of his mother’s character
an image’s meaning, within and outside
that he was searching for. The faded image,
art. This topic will be further discussed
taken before he even knew her, when she
in chapter 2, ‘Visual Approaches’, with
was five, allowed him to rediscover his lost
reference to the technical execution of the
mother. This incident helped him illustrate
work and its importance in supporting the
his definition of photography’s essence.
photographer’s conceptual approach.
According to Barthes, photography
manages to transform a subject, e.g. a
Beyond the recording of appearances
person or a scene, into an image. Within
In his book Camera Lucida, Roland the fragment of time it takes to take a
Barthes embarked on an exploration of picture, we have a separation between the
the ontology of photography, meaning, world and its image. The reality depicted
‘what Photography was “in itself,” by what in the image is irretrievable; there is no
essential feature it was to be distinguished way we can literally return to the past. Yet,
from the community of images’ (1980: 3). a photograph is a trace of the past, of a
past that the image is already separated
Barthes starts with a classification of
from. This reference to the intractable
images based on his own emotions. Even
past, this notion that ‘that-has-been’, for
though most images discussed in the
Barthes, illustrates photography’s essence
book are by the well-known photographers
and is an awareness that is sometimes
– Alfred Stieglitz, André Kertész and
experienced with indifference and some
Robert Mapplethorpe, amongst others
others with great astonishment.
– he is not particularly interested in the
technical quality or artistic nature of the
work. The images allow him to distinguish
between what he calls, the studium, i.e. a
generalized interest in an image because
of its subject-matter, composition and

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∆∞
Title: A collection of
family photographs
Photographer: Unknown
A collection of formal and informal
family photographs that offers
a gateway into the existence of
ourselves and others.

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Barthes articulates a way in which many
of us relate to photographs; the manner
in which they convey an aspect of the
shared human experience and provide
some form of tangible evidence or
gateway to the existence of ourselves
and others. The manner in which the
photograph can go beyond the recording
of appearances and convey something of
the individual’s character or circumstances
is something that we can relate to in
both the production and sharing of our
personal photographs. We may hold
dear photographs of the deceased or
from a time long past. Photographs may
help confirm, or indeed even create, our
sense of personal history and identity. In
a similar way, we can use photographs to
portray our identity, an identity that may be
consciously constructed or simply revealed
with a smile or gesture. Photographs can
keep memories alive, but they can also
create, distort or substitute memories.
Some questions for consideration:
What makes us recognize
beloved people in some
pictures and not in others?
Why do images divert from the
essential ‘truth’ of a person as
we have experienced it?
What are the implications in
relation to members of the family
that we have never met?
9781474291170_txt_app.indb 22
Photographs as objects
The value of a family album lies with the
personal or collective memories that
constitute a family’s identity. We might not
always recognize scenes and members of
the family, or some images might be too old
to reflect personal memories, but the images
invite a particular type of engagement.
This means that it is not necessarily the
content of the image that invites personal
engagement and identification. The images’
authenticity is validated by their appearance
(signs of aging, technology used, any written
notes) and inclusion in personal archives.
This is to say that photographs are not
just images; they are also objects, and
sometimes their materiality and function as
objects is crucial for their significance or
meaning. In the introduction of Photographs
Objects Histories: On the Materiality of
Images, Elizabeth Edwards and Janice
Hart explain: ‘thinking materially about
photography encompasses processes of
intention, making, distributing, consuming,
using, discarding and recycling, all of which
impact on the way in which photographic
images are understood’ (2004: 1).
The technology and chemistry used for
a particular image, as well as its signs
of aging, can provide useful information
about its history. These days, with the
wider marketability of photography,
marks on the surface of an image
are seen as signs of authenticity that
can influence the image’s price.
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∞
Title: from ‘Mother of Martyrs’,
2006
Photographer: Newsha Tavakolian
Every Thursday and Friday, Iranian
mothers who are proud that their
sons have given their lives for Iran
visit the cemetery. Their sons died
fighting Iraqi Republican Guards.
They all cherish the portraits of
their sons. This photograph is a
clear example of how significant
photographs can be to those who
have lost loved ones.

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Regardless of its reputation as a medium
for the reproduction of appearances, in
the course of its existence, photography
has employed a number of different
technologies and has allowed for a great
deal of choice in presentation. The size
and quality of a print can influence our
impression of the image’s content. For
example, from its appearance, we can
tell whether an image has been made for
publicity and is to be shown in a public
space (e.g. a poster). A landscape on a
postcard most likely illustrates a tourist
destination. Fine art prints are usually of
high quality, allowing greater access to
the image, and are usually made in limited
editions for exhibition or archival purposes.
All these conclusions are drawn from the
format of the image and its material basis.
The materiality of photography seems to
be less relevant in the digital age, where
most images are made and viewed on
a screen. Nevertheless, the material
support of the image, i.e. the screen, can
again reveal a lot about the image: the
technology through which it was produced,
the data that it consists of (including
metadata), its capacity to network.
The function of photographs as objects
has largely been ignored in the past,
but it is increasingly inviting attention ∞◊
because it allows access to photography’s Title: Ghost of a Tree, 2012 and
myriad uses. Thinking about photographs Badlands Concrete Bend, 2015
as objects has also received attention Photographer: Letha Wilson
in art, where artists employ different Letha Wilson is an artist who works
technologies and modes of presentation predominantly with photography,
to enrich the meaning and communicative but her work is presented in a
three-dimensional form. Wilson
possibilities of the work, or they appropriate calls her work ‘photosculptures’.
and re-contextualize existing images The sculptural effect is often
to highlight the difference between the achieved through the arrangement
of the images in space or mixed
image’s initial purpose and its function in art media techniques that create a play
(see chapter 3, ‘Contexts of Presentation’). between reality and representation.

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Altered photographs Choosing between documenting real
objects and scenes and constructing
The previous sections explored the idea
realities drawn from one’s imagination
that both content and form are crucial to
defines two different approaches to
our understanding of photographs. There
photography and marks the distinction
are certain expectations linked to the
between documentary, where truthfulness
photographic image. There is an expectation
and accuracy are of crucial importance,
that photographs are made in reaction to
and creative uses that entail a degree
light with the use of a photographic camera,
of fiction. Some photographs operate
and that even though they might not
as objective records of an object or
necessarily produce recognizable shapes
scene; others are enhanced; and, finally,
and scenes, the images are records of
some images are clearly constructed
actual moments in time. These expectations
in order to convey a particular idea or
do not necessarily come consciously to
concept. This might be achieved through
mind when we look at photographs, but
photographing a constructed set or by
they underlie our understanding of them.
manipulating an image either in-camera
However, our ever-increasing encounters or post-production, and sometimes both.
with images come with a growing
Brands and companies – from local
awareness that images can lie, and that
independent businesses through to
this has always been the case. In ‘The
international conglomerates – use
Heroism of Vision’ from On Photography,
photography to varying degrees to state
Susan Sontag describes: ‘In the mid-1840s,
their company identity and promote
a German photographer invented the first
their products and services. In some
technique for retouching the negative. His
circumstances, the photographer is
two versions of the same portrait – one
concerned with enhancing the product
retouched, the other not – astounded
and its effects on the consumer. In
crowds at the Exposition Universelle held in
other circumstances, the main thrust of
Paris in 1855. . . . The news that the camera
advertising photography is to create a spirit
could lie made getting photographed much
of lifestyle. The photographer creates a
more popular’ (Sontag 1971: 85-86).
piece of theatre, a stretched or distorted
As Sontag illustrates through this incident setting to allude to something beyond
from the early days of photography, our the product itself. Constructing an altered
expectations are not reduced to recording reality often leads to complex, playful and
the world. The camera can lie, and this sometimes even shocking images that
dynamic between a mechanical tool and require the photographer to engage with
its highly subjective use has been central an idea in a way that is often removed
to photography since its inception. from the ordinary existence of daily life.

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∞
Title: Untouched and Retouched, c.1895
Authors: Robert Johnson and Arthur Brunel Chatwood

In 1895 Robert Johnson and their choice to retouch most

Arthur Brunel Chatwood put
together a comprehensive guide
to photography that illustrates
developments during the first
half-century after the medium’s
invention. The authors have
included a whole section on
‘Retouching’. In this section
they defend its use and justify
parts of the face in a portrait:
‘judicious retouching is a very
great advantage we have no
doubt whatever; it is an absolute
necessity, in our opinion, in order
to obtain the best result, which
is admittedly the object of all art’
(Johnson and Brunel Chatwood
1895: 121).

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For example, musicians rely heavily Italy as a place where these two worlds
on photography and other visual meet. People’s exaggerated gestures,
communication to convey their artistic as well as the vibrancy of the scenes,
identity. Often the visual language their saturated colours, and polished
employed in album covers and music floors, suggest a stretched reality.
artworks extends beyond the visual
Advancements in technology, and
representation of the musicians or the
computer-generated imaging (CGI) in
music and becomes a cultural experience
particular, have allowed the creation of
of the band’s creative ethos. The album
convincing images that closely resemble
cover for Nirvana’s Nevermind (showing
photographs and do not require any
a baby swimming and reaching out for a
use of a camera. The proliferation of
dollar bill) was photographed in California
CGI in certain fields that were previously
in 1991 by underwater photographer
dominated by photography – such as
Kirk Weddle. Designed by Robert
architecture, the automobile industry
Fisher at Geffen, the cover makes a
and product imaging – has provided a
striking image and is an ironic allusion
new challenge to photographers who
to the band’s counter-culture ethos.
have lost some of their influence in the
Whether destined for private use or to industry. However, the implications of
be exhibited in a gallery or for use in technological developments do not concern
advertising, the constructed photograph commercial applications of photography
engages the viewer in a manner that only: they also concern philosophical
challenges or distorts notions of truth questions regarding photography’s
and reality. Narrativization is inherent in survival. Will CGI replace photography as
many uses of photography, including we know it, or should CGI be considered
documentary (see second part of this a strand of photography instead?
book); however, constructed images, more
CGI is not new. In the 1990s the film
often than not, invite the viewer to immerse
industry and artists were already employing
themselves in a fictional world. For example,
computer technology to create creatures
Dolce & Gabbana’s campaigns ‘# Italia is
and settings that had no correspondence
Love’ (2016), ‘# Napoli’ (2016) and ‘# DG
in reality. Whether this was to refer to future
Palermo’ (2017) draw on the brand’s origin
or past realities or constructs of the maker’s
in Italy. The images feature typical Italian
imagination, computer technologies opened
street settings occupied by a mixed crowd
up new avenues in the creation of alternative
of locals, fashion models and consumers
worlds that look as real as reality itself.
dressed up in high fashion attires. The
images illustrate warm-hearted interactions
between the locals and the fashionistas, with
the locals’ attitude and gestures connoting
tradition and hospitality and the fashionistas
connoting openness and excitement. The
strong sense of location, with ‘trattorias’
and fruit stalls in the backgrounds, marks

9781474291170_txt_app.indb 28 6/18/19 12:03 PM

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of La Comédie
humaine - Volume 15
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: La Comédie humaine - Volume 15

Études philosophiques

Author: Honoré de Balzac

Release date: November 5, 2023 [eBook #72034]

Language: French

Original publication: Paris: Furne, J. J. Dubochet et Cie, J

Hetzel, 1845

Credits: Claudine Corbasson, Hans Pieterse and the Online

Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA COMÉDIE

HUMAINE - VOLUME 15 ***
Au lecteur
Table

ŒUVRES COMPLÈTES

DE

M. DE BALZAC

PARIS, IMPRIMÉ PAR LACRAMPE ET COMP.

 LA

COMÉDIE HUMAINE
QUINZIÈME VOLUME

DEUXIÈME PARTIE

ÉTUDES PHILOSOPHIQUES
 ÉTUDES

PHILOSOPHIQUES

Massimilla Doni.—Gambara.—L’Enfant maudit.—Les Marana.

—Adieu.—Le Réquisitionnaire.—El Verdugo.—Un Drame
au bord de la mer.—L’Auberge Rouge.—L’Élixir de longue vie.
—Maître Cornélius.—Sur Catherine de Médicis (première
partie): le Martyr calviniste.

PARIS,
FURNE,
J.-J. DUBOCHET ET CIE,
RUE SAINT-ANDRÉ-DES-ARTS,
RUE RICHELIEU, 60;
55;

J. HETZEL,
RUE DE MÉNARS, 10.

1845.
LE COMTE D’HÉROUVILLE

L’ENFANT MAUDIT.
 ÉTUDES

P H I L OS OP H I QU E S.
 MASSIMILLA DONI.

A JACQUES STRUNZ.

Mon cher Strunz, il y aurait de l’ingratitude à ne pas

attacher votre nom à l’une des deux œuvres que je n’aurais
pu faire sans votre patiente complaisance et vos bons soins.
Trouvez donc ici un témoignage de ma reconnaissante amitié,
pour le courage avec lequel vous avez essayé, peut-être sans
succès, de m’initier aux profondeurs de la science musicale.
Vous m’aurez toujours appris ce que le génie cache de
difficultés et de travaux dans ces poëmes qui sont pour nous
la source de plaisirs divins. Vous m’avez aussi procuré plus
d’une fois le petit divertissement de rire aux dépens de plus
d’un prétendu connaisseur. Aucuns me taxent d’ignorance, ne
soupçonnant ni les conseils que je dois à l’un des meilleurs
auteurs de feuilletons sur les œuvres musicales, ni votre
consciencieuse assistance. Peut-être ai-je été le plus infidèle
des secrétaires? S’il en était ainsi, je ferais certainement un
traître traducteur sans le savoir, et je veux néanmoins pouvoir
toujours me dire un de vos amis.

Comme le savent les connaisseurs, la noblesse vénitienne est la

première de l’Europe. Son Livre d’or a précédé les Croisades, temps
où Venise, débris de la Rome impériale et chrétienne qui se plongea
dans les eaux pour échapper aux Barbares, déjà puissante, illustre
déjà, dominait le monde politique et commercial. A quelques
exceptions près, aujourd’hui cette noblesse est entièrement ruinée.
Parmi les gondoliers qui conduisent les Anglais à qui l’Histoire
montre là leur avenir, il se trouve des fils d’anciens doges dont la
race est plus ancienne que celle des souverains. Sur un pont par où
passera votre gondole, si vous allez à Venise, vous admirerez une
sublime jeune fille mal vêtue, pauvre enfant qui appartiendra peut-
être à l’une des plus illustres races patriciennes. Quand un peuple
de rois en est là, nécessairement il s’y rencontre des caractères
bizarres. Il n’y a rien d’extraordinaire à ce qu’il jaillisse des étincelles
parmi les cendres. Destinées à justifier l’étrangeté des personnages
en action dans cette histoire, ces réflexions n’iront pas plus loin, car
il n’est rien de plus insupportable que les redites de ceux qui parlent
de Venise après tant de grands poëtes et tant de petits voyageurs.
L’intérêt du récit exigeait seulement de constater l’opposition la plus
vive de l’existence humaine: cette grandeur et cette misère qui se
voient là chez certains hommes comme dans la plupart des
habitations. Les nobles de Venise et ceux de Gênes, comme
autrefois ceux de Pologne, ne prenaient point de titres. S’appeler
Quirini, Doria, Brignole, Morosini, Sauli, Mocenigo, Fieschi
(Fiesque), Cornaro, Spinola, suffisait à l’orgueil le plus haut. Tout se
corrompt, quelques familles sont titrées aujourd’hui. Néanmoins,
dans le temps où les nobles des républiques aristocratiques étaient
égaux, il existait à Gênes un titre de prince pour la famille Doria qui
possédait Amalfi en toute souveraineté, et un titre semblable à
Venise, légitimé par une ancienne possession des Facino Cane,
prince de Varèse. Les Grimaldi, qui devinrent souverains,
s’emparèrent de Monaco beaucoup plus tard. Le dernier des Cane
de la branche aînée disparut de Venise trente ans avant la chute de
la république, condamné pour des crimes plus ou moins criminels.
Ceux à qui revenait cette principauté nominale, les Cane Memmi,
tombèrent dans l’indigence pendant la fatale période de 1796 à
1814. Dans la vingtième année de ce siècle, ils n’étaient plus
représentés que par un jeune homme ayant nom Emilio, et par un
palais qui passe pour un des plus beaux ornements du Canale
Grande. Cet enfant de la belle Venise avait pour toute fortune cet
inutile palais et quinze cents livres de rente provenant d’une maison
de campagne située sur la Brenta, le dernier bien de ceux que sa
famille posséda jadis en Terre-Ferme, et vendue au gouvernement
autrichien. Cette rente viagère sauvait au bel Émilio la honte de
recevoir, comme beaucoup de nobles, l’indemnité de vingt sous par
jour, due à tous les patriciens indigents, stipulée dans le traité de
cession à l’Autriche.
Au commencement de la saison d’hiver, ce jeune seigneur était
encore dans une campagne située au pied des Alpes Tyroliennes, et
achetée au printemps dernier par la duchesse Cataneo. La maison
bâtie par Palladio pour les Tiepolo consiste en un pavillon carré du
style le plus pur. C’est un escalier grandiose, des portiques en
marbre sur chaque face, des péristyles à voûtes couvertes de
fresques et rendues légères par l’outremer du ciel où volent de
délicieuses figures, des ornements gras d’exécution, mais si bien
proportionnés que l’édifice les porte comme une femme porte sa
coiffure, avec une facilité qui réjouit l’œil; enfin cette gracieuse
noblesse qui distingue à Venise les procuraties de la Piazetta. Des
stucs admirablement dessinés entretiennent dans les appartements
un froid qui rend l’atmosphère aimable. Les galeries extérieures
peintes à fresque forment abat-jour. Partout règne ce frais pavé
vénitien où les marbres découpés se changent en d’inaltérables
fleurs. L’ameublement, comme celui des palais italiens, offrait les
plus belles soieries richement employées, et de précieux tableaux
bien placés: quelques-uns du prêtre génois dit il Capucino, plusieurs
de Léonard de Vinci, de Carlo Dolci, de Tintoretto et de Titien. Les
jardins étagés présentent ces merveilles où l’or a été métamorphosé
en grottes de rocailles, en cailloutages qui sont comme la folie du
travail, en terrasses bâties par les fées, en bosquets sévères de ton,
où les cyprès hauts sur patte, les pins triangulaires, le triste olivier,
sont déjà habilement mélangés aux orangers, aux lauriers, aux
myrtes; en bassins clairs où nagent des poissons d’azur et de
cinabre. Quoi que l’on puisse dire à l’avantage des jardins anglais,
ces arbres en parasols, ces ifs taillés, ce luxe des productions de
l’art marié si finement à celui d’une nature habillée; ces cascades à
gradins de marbre où l’eau se glisse timidement et semble comme
une écharpe enlevée par le vent, mais toujours renouvelée; ces
personnages en plomb doré qui meublent discrètement de silencieux
asiles: enfin ce palais hardi qui fait point de vue de toutes parts en
élevant sa dentelle au pied des Alpes; ces vives pensées qui
animent la pierre, le bronze et les végétaux, ou se dessinent en
parterres, cette poétique prodigalité seyait à l’amour d’une duchesse
et d’un joli jeune homme, lequel est une œuvre de poésie fort
éloignée des fins de la brutale nature. Quiconque comprend la
fantaisie, aurait voulu voir sur l’un de ces beaux escaliers, à côté
d’un vase à bas-reliefs circulaires, quelque négrillon habillé à mi-
corps d’un tonnelet en étoffe rouge, tenant d’une main un parasol
au-dessus de la tête de la duchesse, et de l’autre la queue de sa
longue robe pendant qu’elle écoutait une parole d’Emilio Memmi. Et
que n’aurait pas gagné le Vénitien à être vêtu comme un de ces
sénateurs peints par Titien? Hélas! dans ce palais de fée, assez
semblable à celui des Peschiere de Gênes, la Cataneo obéissait aux
firmans de Victorine et des modistes françaises. Elle portait une robe
de mousseline et un chapeau de paille de riz, de jolis souliers gorge
de pigeon, des bas de fil que le plus léger zéphyr eût emportés; elle
avait sur les épaules un schall de dentelle noire! Mais ce qui ne se
comprendra jamais à Paris, où les femmes sont serrées dans leurs
robes comme des demoiselles dans leurs fourreaux annelés, c’est le
délicieux laissez-aller avec lequel cette belle fille de la Toscane
portait le vêtement français, elle l’avait italianisé. La Française met
un incroyable sérieux à sa jupe, tandis qu’une Italienne s’en occupe
peu, ne la défend par aucun regard gourmé, car elle se sait sous la
protection d’un seul amour, passion sainte et sérieuse pour elle,
comme pour autrui.
Étendue sur un sopha, vers onze heures du matin, au retour
d’une promenade, et devant une table où se voyaient les restes d’un
élégant déjeuner, la duchesse Cataneo laissait son amant maître de
cette mousseline sans lui dire: chut! au moindre geste. Sur une
bergère à ses côtés, Emilio tenait une des mains de la duchesse
entre ses deux mains, et la regardait avec un entier abandon. Ne
demandez pas s’ils s’aimaient; ils s’aimaient trop. Ils n’en étaient pas
à lire dans le livre comme Paul et Françoise; loin de là, Emilio n’osait
dire: Lisons! A la lueur de ces yeux où brillaient deux prunelles
vertes tigrées par des fils d’or qui partaient du centre comme les
éclats d’une fêlure, et communiquaient au regard un doux
scintillement d’étoile, il sentait en lui-même une volupté nerveuse qui
le faisait arriver au spasme. Par moments, il lui suffisait de voir les
beaux cheveux noirs de cette tête adorée serrés par un simple
cercle d’or, s’échappant en tresses luisantes de chaque côté d’un
front volumineux, pour écouter dans ses oreilles les battements
précipités de son sang soulevé par vagues, et menaçant de faire
éclater les vaisseaux du cœur. Par quel phénomène moral l’âme
s’emparait-elle si bien de son corps qu’il ne se sentait plus en lui-
même, mais tout en cette femme à la moindre parole qu’elle disait
d’une voix qui troublait en lui les sources de la vie? Si, dans la
solitude, une femme de beauté médiocre sans cesse étudiée devient
sublime et imposante, peut-être une femme aussi magnifiquement
belle que l’était la duchesse arrivait-elle à stupéfier un jeune homme
chez qui l’exaltation trouvait des ressorts neufs, car elle absorbait
réellement cette jeune âme.
Héritière des Doni de Florence, Massimilla avait épousé le duc
sicilien Cataneo. En moyennant ce mariage, sa vieille mère, morte
depuis, avait voulu la rendre riche et heureuse selon les coutumes
de la vie florentine. Elle avait pensé que sortie du couvent pour
entrer dans la vie, sa fille accomplirait selon les lois de l’amour ce
second mariage de cœur qui est tout pour une Italienne. Mais
Massimilla Doni avait pris au couvent un grand goût pour la vie
religieuse, et quand elle eut donné sa foi devant les autels au duc de
Cataneo, elle se contenta chrétiennement d’en être la femme. Ce fut
la chose impossible. Cataneo, qui ne voulait qu’une duchesse,
trouva fort sot d’être un mari; dès que Massimilla se plaignit de ses
façons, il lui dit tranquillement de se mettre en quête d’un primo
cavaliere servante, et lui offrit ses services pour lui en amener
plusieurs à choisir. La duchesse pleura, le duc la quitta. Massimilla
regarda le monde qui se pressait autour d’elle, fut conduite par sa
mère à la Pergola, dans quelques maisons diplomatiques, aux
Cascine, partout où l’on rencontrait de jeunes et jolis cavaliers, elle
ne trouva personne qui lui plût, et se mit à voyager. Elle perdit sa
mère, hérita, porta le deuil, vint à Venise, et y vit Emilio, qui passa
devant sa loge en échangeant avec elle un regard de curiosité. Tout
fut dit. Le Vénitien se sentit comme foudroyé; tandis qu’une voix cria:
le voilà! dans les oreilles de la duchesse. Partout ailleurs, deux
personnes prudentes et instruites se seraient examinées, flairées;
mais ces deux ignorances se confondirent comme deux substances
de la même nature qui n’en font qu’une seule en se rencontrant.
Massimilla devint aussitôt vénitienne et acheta le palais qu’elle avait
loué sur le Canareggio. Puis, ne sachant à quoi employer ses
revenus, elle avait acquis aussi Rivalta, cette campagne où elle était
alors. Emilio, présenté par la Vulpato à la Cataneo, vint pendant tout
l’hiver très-respectueusement dans la loge de son amie. Jamais
amour ne fut plus violent dans deux âmes, ni plus timide dans ses
expressions. Ces deux enfants tremblaient l’un devant l’autre.
Massimilla ne coquetait point, n’avait ni secundo ni terzo, ni patito.
Occupée d’un sourire et d’une parole, elle admirait son jeune
Vénitien au visage pointu, au nez long et mince, aux yeux noirs, au
front noble, qui, malgré ses naïfs encouragements, ne vint chez elle
qu’après trois mois employés à s’apprivoiser l’un l’autre. L’été
montra son ciel oriental, la duchesse se plaignit d’aller seule à
Rivalta. Heureux et inquiet tout à la fois du tête-à-tête, Emilio avait
accompagné Massimilla dans sa retraite. Ce joli couple y était
depuis six mois.
A vingt ans, Massimilla n’avait pas, sans de grands remords,
immolé ses scrupules religieux à l’amour; mais elle s’était lentement
désarmée et souhaitait accomplir ce mariage de cœur, tant vanté par
sa mère, au moment où Emilio tenait sa belle et noble main, longue,
satinée, blanche, terminée par des ongles bien dessinés et colorés,
comme si elle avait reçu d’Asie un peu de l’henné qui sert aux
femmes des sultans à se les teindre en rose vif. Un malheur ignoré
de Massimilla, mais qui faisait cruellement souffrir Émilio, s’était jeté
bizarrement entre eux. Massimilla, quoique jeune, avait cette
majesté que la tradition mythologique attribue à Junon, seule déesse
à laquelle la mythologie n’ait pas donné d’amant, car Diane a été
aimée, la chaste Diane a aimé! Jupiter seul a pu ne pas perdre
contenance devant sa divine moitié, sur laquelle se sont modelées
beaucoup de ladies en Angleterre. Emilio mettait sa maîtresse
beaucoup trop haut pour y atteindre. Peut-être un an plus tard ne
serait-il plus en proie à cette noble maladie qui n’attaque que les
très-jeunes gens et les vieillards. Mais comme celui qui dépasse le
but en est aussi loin que celui dont le trait n’y arrive pas, la duchesse
se trouvait entre un mari qui se savait si loin du but qu’il ne s’en
souciait plus, et un amant qui le franchissait si rapidement avec les
blanches ailes de l’ange qu’il ne pouvait plus y revenir. Heureuse
d’être aimée, Massimilla jouissait du désir sans en imaginer la fin;
tandis que son amant, malheureux dans le bonheur, amenait de
temps en temps par une promesse sa jeune amie au bord de ce que
tant de femmes nomment l’abîme, et se voyait obligé de cueillir les
fleurs qui le bordent, sans pouvoir faire autre chose que les effeuiller
en contenant dans son cœur une rage qu’il n’osait exprimer. Tous
deux s’étaient promenés en se redisant au matin un hymne d’amour
comme en chantaient les oiseaux nichés dans les arbres. Au retour,
le jeune homme, dont la situation ne peut se peindre qu’en le
comparant à ces anges auxquels les peintres ne donnent qu’une
tête et des ailes, s’était senti si violemment amoureux qu’il avait mis
en doute l’entier dévouement de la duchesse, afin de l’amener à
dire: «Quelle preuve en veux-tu?» Ce mot avait été jeté d’un air
royal, et Memmi baisait avec ardeur cette belle main ignorante. Tout
à coup, il se leva furieux contre lui-même, et laissa Massimilla. La
duchesse resta dans sa pose nonchalante sur le sopha, mais elle y
pleura, se demandant en quoi, belle et jeune, elle déplaisait à Emilio.
De son côté, le pauvre Memmi donnait de la tête contre les arbres
comme une corneille coiffée. Un valet cherchait en ce moment le
jeune Vénitien, et courait après lui pour lui donner une lettre arrivée
par un exprès.
Marco Vendramini, nom qui dans le dialecte vénitien, où se
suppriment certaines finales, se prononce également Vendramin,
son seul ami lui apprenait que Marco Facino Cane, prince de
Varèse, était mort dans un hôpital de Paris. La preuve du décès était
arrivée. Ainsi les Cane Memmi devenaient princes de Varèse. Aux
yeux des deux amis, un titre sans argent ne signifiant rien,
Vendramin annonçait à Emilio comme une nouvelle beaucoup plus
importante, l’engagement à la Fenice du fameux ténor Genovese, et
de la célèbre signora Tinti. Sans achever la lettre, qu’il mit dans sa
poche en la froissant, Emilio courut annoncer à la duchesse Cataneo
la grande nouvelle, en oubliant son héritage héraldique. La
duchesse ignorait la singulière histoire qui recommandait la Tinti à la
curiosité de l’Italie, le prince la lui dit en quelques mots. Cette illustre
cantatrice était une simple servante d’auberge, dont la voix
merveilleuse avait surpris un grand seigneur sicilien en voyage. La
beauté de cette enfant, qui avait alors douze ans, s’étant trouvée
digne de la voix, le grand seigneur avait eu la constance de faire
élever cette petite personne comme Louis XV fit jadis élever
mademoiselle de Romans. Il avait attendu patiemment que la voix
de Clara fût exercée par un fameux professeur, et qu’elle eût seize
ans pour jouir de tous les trésors si laborieusement cultivés. En
débutant l’année dernière, la Tinti avait ravi les trois capitales de
l’Italie les plus difficiles à satisfaire.
—Je suis bien sûre que le grand seigneur n’est pas mon mari, dit
la duchesse.
Aussitôt les chevaux furent commandés, et la Cataneo partit à
l’instant pour Venise, afin d’assister à l’ouverture de la saison d’hiver.
Par une belle soirée du mois de novembre, le nouveau prince de
Varèse traversait donc la lagune de Mestre à Venise, entre la ligne
de poteaux aux couleurs autrichiennes qui marque la route
concédée par la douane aux gondoles. Tout en regardant la gondole
de la Cataneo menée par des laquais en livrée, et qui sillonnait la
mer à une portée de fusil en avant de lui, le pauvre Emilio, conduit
par un vieux gondolier qui avait conduit son père au temps où
Venise vivait encore, ne pouvait repousser les amères réflexions que
lui suggérait l’investiture de son titre.
«Quelle raillerie de la fortune! Être prince et avoir quinze cents
francs de rente. Posséder l’un des plus beaux palais du monde, et
ne pouvoir disposer des marbres, des escaliers, des peintures, des
sculptures, qu’un décret autrichien venait de rendre inaliénables!
Vivre sur un pilotis en bois de Campêche estimé près d’un million et
ne pas avoir de mobilier! Être le maître de galeries somptueuses, et
habiter une chambre au-dessus de la dernière frise arabesque bâtie
avec des marbres rapportés de la Morée, que déjà, sous les
Romains, un Memmius avait parcourue en conquérant! Voir dans
une des plus magnifiques églises de Venise ses ancêtres sculptés
sur leurs tombeaux en marbres précieux, au milieu d’une chapelle
ornée des peintures de Titien, de Tintoret, des deux Palma, de
Bellini, de Paul Véronèse, et ne pouvoir vendre à l’Angleterre un
Memmi de marbre pour donner du pain au prince de Varèse!
Genovese, le fameux ténor, aura, dans une saison, pour ses
roulades, le capital de la rente avec laquelle vivrait heureux un fils
des Memmius, sénateurs romains, aussi anciens que les César et
les Sylla. Genovese peut fumer un houka des Indes, et le prince de
Varèse ne peut consumer des cigares à discrétion!»
Et il jeta le bout de son cigare dans la mer. Le prince de Varèse
trouve ses cigares chez la Cataneo, à laquelle il voudrait apporter
les richesses du monde; la duchesse étudiait tous ses caprices,
heureuse de les satisfaire! Il fallait y faire son seul repas, le souper,
car son argent passait à son habillement et à son entrée à la Fenice.
Encore était-il obligé de prélever cent francs par an pour le vieux
gondolier de son père, qui, pour le mener à ce prix, ne vivait que de
riz. Enfin, il fallait aussi pouvoir payer les tasses de café noir que
tous les matins il prenait au café Florian pour se soutenir jusqu’au
soir dans une excitation nerveuse, sur l’abus de laquelle il comptait
pour mourir, comme Vendramin comptait, lui, sur l’opium.
—Et je suis prince! En se disant ce dernier mot, Emilio Memmi
jeta, sans l’achever, la lettre de Marco Vendramini dans la lagune, où
elle flotta comme un esquif de papier lancé par un enfant.—Mais
Emilio, reprit-il, n’a que vingt-trois ans. Il vaut mieux ainsi que lord
Wellington goutteux, que le régent paralytique, que la famille
impériale d’Autriche attaquée du haut mal, que le roi de France...
Mais en pensant au roi de France, le front d’Emilio se plissa, son
teint d’ivoire jaunit, des larmes roulèrent dans ses yeux noirs,
humectèrent ses longs cils; il souleva d’une main digne d’être peinte
par Titien son épaisse chevelure brune, et reporta son regard sur la
gondole de la Cataneo.
—La raillerie que se permet le sort envers moi se rencontre
encore dans mon amour, se dit-il. Mon cœur et mon imagination sont
pleins de trésors, Massimilla les ignore; elle est Florentine, elle
m’abandonnera. Être glacé près d’elle lorsque sa voix et son regard
développent en moi des sensations célestes! En voyant sa gondole
à quelque cent palmes de la mienne, il me semble qu’on me place
un fer chaud dans le cœur. Un fluide invisible coule dans mes nerfs
et les embrase, un nuage se répand sur mes yeux, l’air me semble
avoir la couleur qu’il avait à Rivalta, quand le jour passait à travers
un store de soie rouge, et que, sans qu’elle me vît, je l’admirais
rêveuse et souriant avec finesse, comme la Monna Lisa de
Léonardo. Ou mon altesse finira par un coup de pistolet, ou le fils
des Cane suivra le conseil de son vieux Carmagnola: nous nous
ferons matelots, pirates, et nous nous amuserons à voir combien de
temps nous vivrons avant d’être pendus!
Le prince prit un nouveau cigare et contempla les arabesques de
sa fumée livrée au vent, comme pour voir dans leurs caprices une
répétition de sa dernière pensée. De loin, il distinguait déjà les
pointes mauresques des ornements qui couronnaient son palais; il
redevint triste. La gondole de la duchesse avait disparu dans le
Canareggio. Les fantaisies d’une vie romanesque et périlleuse, prise
comme dénoûment de son amour, s’éteignirent avec son cigare, et
la gondole de son amie ne lui marqua plus son chemin. Il vit alors le
présent tel qu’il était: un palais sans âme, une âme sans action sur
le corps, une principauté sans argent, un corps vide et un cœur
plein, mille antithèses désespérantes. L’infortuné pleurait sa vieille
Venise, comme la pleurait plus amèrement encore Vendramini, car
une mutuelle et profonde douleur et un même sort avaient engendré
une mutuelle et vive amitié entre ces deux jeunes gens, débris de
deux illustres familles. Emilio ne put s’empêcher de penser aux jours
où le palais Memmi vomissait la lumière par toutes ses croisées et
retentissait de musiques portées au loin sur l’onde adriatique; où l’on
voyait à ses poteaux des centaines de gondoles attachées; où l’on
entendait sur son perron baisé par les flots les masques élégants et
les dignitaires de la République se pressant en foule; où ses salons
et sa galerie étaient enrichis par une assemblée intriguée et
intriguant; où la grande salle des festins meublée de tables rieuses,
et ses galeries au pourtour aérien pleines de musique, semblaient
contenir Venise entière allant et venant sur les escaliers
retentissants de rires. Le ciseau des meilleurs artistes avait de siècle
en siècle sculpté le bronze qui supportait alors les vases au long col
ou ventrus achetés en Chine, et celui des candélabres aux mille
bougies. Chaque pays avait fourni sa part du luxe qui parait les
murailles et les plafonds. Aujourd’hui les murs dépouillés de leurs
belles étoffes, les plafonds mornes, se taisaient et pleuraient. Plus
de tapis de Turquie, plus de lustres festonnés de fleurs, plus de
statues, plus de tableaux, plus de joie ni d’argent, ce grand véhicule
de la joie! Venise, cette Londres du moyen-âge, tombait pierre à
pierre, homme à homme. La sinistre verdure que la mer entretient et
caresse au bas des palais, était alors aux yeux du prince comme
une frange noire que la nature y attachait en signe de mort. Enfin, un
grand poëte anglais était venu s’abattre sur Venise comme un
corbeau sur un cadavre, pour lui coasser en poésie lyrique, dans ce
premier et dernier langage des sociétés, les stances d’un De
Profundis! De la poésie anglaise jetée au front d’une ville qui avait
enfanté la poésie italienne!... Pauvre Venise!
Jugez quel dut être l’étonnement d’un jeune homme absorbé par
de telles pensées, au moment où Carmagnola s’écria:—Sérénissime
altesse, le palais brûle, ou les anciens doges y sont revenus. Voici
des lumières aux croisées de la galerie haute!
Le prince Emilio crut son rêve réalisé par un coup de baguette. A
la nuit tombante, le vieux gondolier put, en retenant sa gondole à la
première marche, aborder son jeune maître sans qu’il fût vu par
aucun des gens empressés dans le palais, et dont quelques-uns
bourdonnaient au perron comme des abeilles à l’entrée d’une ruche.
Emilio se glissa sous l’immense péristyle où se développait le plus
bel escalier de Venise et le franchit lestement pour connaître la
cause de cette singulière aventure. Tout un monde d’ouvriers se
hâtait d’achever l’ameublement et la décoration du palais. Le
premier étage, digne de l’ancienne splendeur de Venise, offrait à ses
regards les belles choses qu’Emilio rêvait un moment auparavant, et
la fée les avait disposées dans le meilleur goût. Une splendeur digne
des palais d’un roi parvenu éclatait jusque dans les plus minces
détails. Emilio se promenait sans que personne lui fît la moindre
observation, et il marchait de surprise en surprise. Curieux de voir ce
qui se passait au second étage, il monta, et trouva l’ameublement
fini. Les inconnus chargés par l’enchanteur de renouveler les
prodiges de Mille et une Nuits en faveur d’un pauvre prince italien,
remplaçaient quelques meubles mesquins apportés dans les
premiers moments. Le prince Emilio arriva dans la chambre à
coucher de l’appartement, qui lui sourit comme une conque d’où
Vénus serait sortie. Cette chambre était si délicieusement belle, si
bien pomponnée, si coquette, pleine de recherches si gracieuses,
qu’il s’alla plonger dans une bergère de bois doré devant laquelle on