Cholera in Paris 1865

François-Nicolas Chifflart created this etching, titled Cholera in Paris, during a time of immense social upheaval and disease. The cholera epidemics of the 19th century were not just medical crises; they were social levelers that exposed the stark inequalities of urban life. Chifflart’s print captures the terror and chaos of these outbreaks, but also hints at the societal fractures they revealed. The writhing bodies swept up in a vortex above the Parisian skyline speak to the indiscriminate nature of the disease, yet also suggest a kind of judgment. Who were these victims? Were they the poor, the marginalized, those most vulnerable to the squalor and neglect of a rapidly industrializing city? It’s hard to look at this image and not feel the weight of history. It serves as a reminder that disease and disaster often hit the most vulnerable the hardest, reflecting existing power structures and societal fault lines.