Un autodafé au XIXe siècle c. 19th century

Here, Honoré Daumier captures an "Autodafé in the 19th Century," a religious ceremony organized by Montalembert and Veuillot. The scene, rendered with biting irony, depicts the burning of books. The most striking element is the figure wearing a pointed cap, reminiscent of those worn during the Spanish Inquisition, suggesting fanaticism and repression. Behind the fire loom ghostly figures labeled Euripides, Molière, and Sophocles, symbolizing the classical and Enlightenment thought deemed heretical by the reactionary forces of the time. This motif of burning knowledge appears throughout history, from the destruction of the Library of Alexandria to Nazi book burnings, each time representing an attempt to erase collective memory. Such acts tap into a deep-seated fear of intellectual freedom, triggering an emotional response of outrage and resistance in viewers, reminding us that the struggle for enlightenment is a recurring theme in the human psyche.