The Lunatic of Etretat

The Lunatic of Etretat by Hugues Merle (1871)

Merle is a French writer who is known best for portraying sentimental subjects in paintings. But this art piece- The Lunatic of Etretat- strays from this technique and is known for the intensity and the dynamic of the emotions it represents. The exact meaning of this art piece is still a topic of debate amongst its admirers. As a direct interpretation, this painting is viewed as the anguish of a mother who has lost her child. The empty yet rage-filled look in her eyes and the log wrapped in a blanket and tied with a bonnet can be taken as symbols of the grief the woman holds over her loss. Even the name of the painting hints at this meaning. But considering the fact that this painting was made after the Franco-Prussian war, people say that the woman may symbolize France and the log would be the lost territory.

My initial interpretation of this painting is the former notion. Yes, the symbolism of the war makes sense but I'd like to view this painting in its direct sense. Her 'sanpaku eyes', aggressive body language, the protrusion of her veins, and her unkept manner- they all hint at a grieving mother who has lost her mind to the point where she is deluded to take a piece of log and wrap it in cloth to cradle it in her arms as she would her baby. You can literally feel the rage and the grief pouring out through her gaze. The pain- the affliction- it is raw and visceral. The fact that this painting speaks such intense emotions is what captured my attention in the first place. And even after knowing about its geo-political history, the reason for me to stick to my initial interpretation was because I had already correlated it with a picture I saw some time ago.

No, this is not a painting. It is a very realistic picture taken of a mother who lost her child in the war that is happening in Gaza. Empty and vengeful- the initial painting. Heartbreaking and filled with torment- the above picture. In both of these, we can see two mothers, completely shattered. And it disturbs me. It disturbs me to my very core. It disturbs me that the lady in the painting had faced such a loss that she has lost her own mind over it. It disturbs me to my very core that hundreds and thousands of children were murdered in Gaza just because they live there- and that their fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters can do nothing but live with that grief.

"I'll tell you one thing, it's a cruel cruel world."

- Danny DeVito

And man has made it crueller still.

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