SELECTION BY TOPIC : PAUL & VIRGINIA
Paul et Virginia and the birth of exoticism
Paul and Virginia, a novel written by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, tells the story of two lovers in the heavenly environment of the île de France (Mauritius island).
This mythical work of fiction is intimately linked to the history of the islands in the south-western Indian Ocean.
The universe of Paul and Virginia
After the publication of the novel in 1788, Paul and Virginia quickly became a source of inspiration for the artists.
Between 1789 and 1806, illustrators, painters and engravers produced the pictorial corpus, selecting episodes they considered to be the most emblematic. For over a century, these artists thus set the standards for representations of Paul et Virginie.
From the novel to the images
Most of the pictorial representations of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s novel were based on late 18th-century and early 19th-century models.
Five historical series of etchings or plates from illustrated editions of the novel were initially produced, all published during Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s lifetime.
