Lot and His Daughters

Joseph Marie Vien

1748 · Etching · Drawings and Prints

In the biblical story of Lot and his daughters, the family fled the destruction of Sodom. Believing that they were the sole survivors, the daughters served their father wine and, when he became inebriated, copulated with him in order to preserve the human race. The incestuous tale, with its complex figural grouping of an old man with two nubile young women, had a curious popularity in the mid-eighteenth century. During his years as a student, Vien invented and etched his own version as a demonstration of his skill.

Artist

Joseph Marie Vien

Date

1748

Medium

Etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1964