Jean Baptiste Madou, The Colossus of Rhodes

by Atelier Liesjes

On a high brick plinth stands a gigantic young man with his legs apart; his feet rest on two blocks of masonry on either side of the harbour mouth. He is naked except for a cloth tied around his hips, which falls in folds down his thigh. His right arm is raised, holding a shallow bowl from which smoke rises; on his head is a radiant crown. A quiver and a bow hang across his back. A small ship with a square sail sails into the harbour between his legs; on the quays stand tiny figures in togas, two on each side, and behind them rises a row of columns. In the distance, a coastline with a tower is faintly visible. Beneath the image is the title *Le Colosse*, with the plate number X. The print is a nineteenth-century reconstruction of one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Colossus of Rhodes, and shows how people in the previous century imagined that statue: as an academic nude with the serene, reserved beauty of classical sculpture. The proportions are carefully calculated: the ship, the people and the blocks indicate the scale. The style is Neoclassical; the technique is lithography or engraving in subtle shades of grey on warm-toned paper. The image is both a monument and an illustration, and it is precisely this blend of archaeology and fantasy that makes it so appealing.
Jean-Baptiste Madou (Brussels 1796 – Brussels 1877) was a painter, draughtsman and lithographer, and one of the first to practise lithography to a high standard in Belgium. He produced albums of prints depicting everyday life and history, and his work was distributed throughout Europe. This print was executed by an engraver based on his drawing, as indicated by the inscription at the bottom. A fine example of nineteenth-century printmaking, suitable for a collector or a classic interior.