Edmond Guilliaume
French, active 1870s
Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, from Les Génies de la Mort
INV-1193
Edmond Guilliaume
French, active 1870s1870
Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, from Les Génies de la Mort
Edmond Guilliaume French, active 1870s →lithographprint
Date
1870
Medium
Color lithograph on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 57.8 × 46 cm (22 13/16 × 18 1/8 in.); Sheet: 72.7 × 51.6 cm (28 5/8 × 20 3/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Robert Chase Endowment
After the creation of the German Empire, Wilhelm I was named kaiser (emperor) of the unified German state. He is thus depicted as the aristocratic twin to his prime minister, Otto von Bismarck. Edmond Guilliaume ironically gave Wilhelm a crown of leaves like an ancient hero, but that association is superseded by the rest of his face and body. Underneath his confident eyes lies a decaying skull, and his body is replaced by the rapacious, blood-sucking form of a bat. Combined with the nighttime destruction of the church in the distance, Wilhelm represents the very essence of the coldhearted, cold-blooded enemy.
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