The Good Judges
Artist / maker
James Ensor (etchers)Date
1894Period
19th centuryCollection
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent
The print "The Good Judges" is associated with the controversial court case Coucke and Goethals. Both Flemings were unjustly condemned to death by a French-speaking court in 1860 and executed. It is possible that Ensor's biting satire also found its origin in more autobiographical elements: his father's bankruptcy in 1875, or, very recently at the time, the court case against…
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The print "The Good Judges" is associated with the controversial court case Coucke and Goethals. Both Flemings were unjustly condemned to death by a French-speaking court in 1860 and executed. It is possible that Ensor's biting satire also found its origin in more autobiographical elements: his father's bankruptcy in 1875, or, very recently at the time, the court case against Ensor's mother in the context of a banal abuse of copyright. In 1892-1893 she stood trial for the illegal reproduction of a painting by the Antwerp painter Jan Van Beers. The etching "The Good Judges" is the mirror image of Ensor's painting of the same name from 1891 (private collection).
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