The Knight's Return 1871

Rodolphe Bresdin made this etching called ‘The Knight’s Return’. Bresdin lived through times of enormous social change in France. Perhaps because he lived in near poverty his entire life, his work often reflects themes of social alienation. A lone knight on horseback returns through a dense landscape towards his village. The etching technique allows for incredible detail, which Bresdin uses to create almost claustrophobic compositions, filled with dense forests and foliage. This depiction of nature can be viewed in terms of class: nature, uncultivated and untamed, as the realm of the poor. There’s a striking contrast between the wildness of the nature in the foreground, and the symbols of civilization behind it. The artist's own life was one of constant movement and restless wandering. This piece evokes the feeling of a homecoming that is perhaps more imagined than real.