Iston, Pouffamatus, Cracozie and Transmouffe, Famous Persian Physicians, Examining the Stool of Darius
Artist / maker
James Ensor (etchers)Date
1886Period
19th centuryCollection
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent
The etching goes back to the historical defeat of Darius III in 331 BC. Ensor made the battle between Darius and Alexander the Great take place in the imaginary place of Arabela; in reality the military encounter took place in Gaugamela. The print has more fictional elements, and Ensor takes satire to the extreme. Darius' physicians examine his stool in…
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The etching goes back to the historical defeat of Darius III in 331 BC. Ensor made the battle between Darius and Alexander the Great take place in the imaginary place of Arabela; in reality the military encounter took place in Gaugamela. The print has more fictional elements, and Ensor takes satire to the extreme. Darius' physicians examine his stool in search of a causal connection between a possible intestinal disorder and the defeat. The sonorous names of the physicians also spring from Ensor's unbridled imagination. The figure of Crazon, seated on the toilet on the right, was also used by Ensor in the drawing "The Devils Dzitts and Hihahox, Led by Crazon, Riding a Great Cat, Leading Christ to Hell" also from 1886 (Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, inv. 7660). On the other hand, the etching shows that Ensor took the technique of the old masters as an example, like Rembrandt here.
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