Description
Édouard Manet’s Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe places the writer’s head within a dark oval medallion. Seen at a slight angle, the moustached face emerges from the surrounding tone, while a raven and decorative scroll above the portrait connect the likeness to Poe’s literary world. The ornamental frame makes the image feel at once personal and emblematic.
Manet developed the etching around 1860–62; this impression belongs to the later 1905 Strölin edition. Fine lines distinguish the face from the darker enclosure without making the portrait rigid. The raven adds a second kind of recognition, identifying the author through the imagination associated with his writing. Together, likeness and ornament give the modest print the character of a concentrated tribute to a writer whose presence extends beyond his portrait.
Read our guide to giclée prints, browse more Édouard Manet prints, or explore The Flying Raven.
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