La Mal'aria, Family in a Boat after Ernest Hébert, Photogravure, circa 1880

About this sheet

A flat-bottomed boat drifts on still, dark water beneath a high bank of scrub and rock. A young boatman in shirtsleeves stands at the stern, leaning on a long pole, his back to the viewer. Seated in the boat is an Italian peasant family: a pale woman wrapped in a dark shawl, a mother in a white headcloth holding a sleeping infant, a man in a broad hat, and a girl in a white blouse who leans listlessly over the gunwale with one arm trailing toward the water. Bundles, a basket and a palm frond are piled at the far end.

The mood is heavy and still. The figures are lit against the shadowed bank, and the dull sky and motionless water carry the sense of fever and fatigue that gives the picture its name.

The plate reproduces "La Mal'aria" by Ernest Hébert (1817 to 1908), painted in the late 1840s, shown at the Paris Salon of 1850 and now in the Musée d'Orsay. The margin reads "Peint par E. Hébert", the painter's monogram is in the lower right of the image, and the plate carries the line "Photogravure & Imp. Goupil & Cie", the Paris house that both made and printed it.

Photogravure reproduces the painting in continuous tone, with soft gradations from the pale sky to the deep water, and preserves the modeling of the faces and the fall of the drapery.

A strong, quiet image for a study, library or reading corner, best framed with a generous mat to let the dark tones breathe.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.