{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O731842"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O731842/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O731842","accessionNumber":"E.2455-1938","objectType":"Poster","titles":[{"title":"Le Pendu","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Lithographic poster depicting a dead man hanging from a rope being discovered by another figure who enters and illuminates the room with candlelight.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec","id":"A6626"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"lithographic ink","id":"AAT187750"}],"techniques":[{"text":"lithography","id":"AAT53271"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Brush, crayon and spatter lithograph poster, with scraper","categories":[{"text":"Posters","id":"THES252963"},{"text":"Death","id":"THES48970"},{"text":"Literature","id":"THES284210"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLC (VA)","id":"THES49171"},"free":"","case":"Y","shelf":"81","box":"D"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"poster","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"April 1892","earliest":"1892-04-01","latest":"1892-04-30"},"association":{"text":"published","id":"x30682"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"29.5","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1938","earliest":"1938-01-01","latest":"1938-12-31"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"21.5","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1938","earliest":"1938-01-01","latest":"1938-12-31"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"'Hanging Man' or 'Le Pendu' was commissioned by the artist's hometown newspaper, La Dépêche de Toulouse, to advertise 'Les Drames de Toulouse', a series of sensational news stories from the city's past.  On Oct. 13, 1761, Jean Calas, a Huguenot cloth merchant, found his eldest son, MarcAntoine, hanging dead in the family shop. Anti-Huguenot hysteria broke out among the local Roman Catholic populace, and Calas was arrested and charged with having murdered his son to prevent or punish his recent conversion to Catholicism. At first he attributed the crime to an unknown intruder, but he later insisted that his son had committed suicide. Found guilty by the local magistrates, Jean Calas was condemned to death by the court of Toulouse on March 9, 1762. The following day he was publicly broken on the wheel, strangled, and then cremated. His son was buried as a martyr to the Catholic faith. The incident led the philosopher Voltaire to campaign for religious tolerance and the reformation of the criminal code in France.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Lithograph poster by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: 'Le Pendu', printed by R. Thomas & Co., Toulouse. France, 1892.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1938</u>, London: Board of Education, 1939."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"The following excerpts are a precis translation of the entry for the poster in 'Toulouse-Lautrec et l'art de l'affiche' edited by Fanny Girard and published by Dario Cimorelli Editore, 2025:\r\n\r\n'Arthur Huc commissioned Toulouse-Lautrec to create a poster announcing the serialisation of A. Siègel's 'Drames de Toulouse'. This historical novel recounts the misfortunes of Toulouse families between 1761 and 1799, focusing on three episodes: the Calas affair, the Battle of Pech-David, and the assassination of General Ramel...\r\nThe artist chose to depict the dramatic and inaugural episode of the Calas affair: the discovery of the hanged body of Jean Calas's son. Illuminated by a candle, the body of the suicide victim, brought to the forefront, is represented in a strong chiaroscuro, conducive to conveying the drama. The light divides the face into light and dark areas, accentuating the contortion of the features. In order to spare his son's remains the shameful treatment reserved for suicides, Jean Calas disguised the suicide and denied it. Seeking a culprit, the justice system then accused him—as proof—of having killed his son to prevent him from converting to Catholicism, he himself being a Calvinist. Calas was tortured and sentenced to death. Voltaire then waged a battle for several years to have the trial reviewed, to prove Calas's innocence, and to rehabilitate his reputation. This episode inspired his 'Treatise on Tolerance'."},{"reference":{"text":"Toulouse-Lautrec : the complete prints","id":"AUTH411403"},"details":"","free":"Le pendu (premiere planche) 1892 - the second was created in 1895."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"suicide","id":"AAT69678"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.2455-1938"],"accessionNumberNum":"2455","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1938,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-13","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-30","availableToBook":false}}