The arrest of Charlotte Corday or the assassination of Marat – Original drawing.

Louis Brion de la Tour (1763-1823)

Original drawing.

The arrest of Charlotte Corday or the assassination of Marat

Pen and brown ink, grey wash, watercolor, enhanced with white and grey gouache.

1793

An extraordinary drawing depicting the arrest of Charlotte Corday after she stabbed Jean-Paul Marat on July 13, 1793, in his bath at his home on Rue de l'École de Médecine. The still-bloody knife fell to the floor next to the bathtub.

The work is annotated in black ink at the top by Brion De la Tour: "Marat stabbed by Corday's daughter"

Format: 210 x 260 mm

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The artist organized his composition into two parts: on the right, the murderess is arrested and led out of the room; she will be executed four days later. On the left, Marat is lifted from the bath while his companion Simone Evrard weeps beside him.

Brion de la Tour produced an aquatint engraving in reverse to the present drawing. This was announced in the Journal de Paris on 28 Pluviôse, Year II (February 15, 1794): " Unable to corrupt me, they assassinated me ." Amaury Duval's philosophical, literary, and political journal described this engraving (along with Le Pelletier's) as being: " of good composition and great effect. These are the ones that render the events they represent with the greatest precision and accuracy. "

Despite Amaury Duval's assertions, it seems that the assassination scene differs somewhat from Brion de la Tour's depiction. Charlotte Corday had time to escape and was only arrested in the antechamber by the errand boy Laurent Bas before being taken away. The artist here dramatized the event by depicting both the arrest and Marat's death, being removed from the bathtub.