Fainting in the Courtroom

A woman, her body slack, is supported by an unidentifiable figure, while a judge swathed in black robes peers at her over the bench, his face obscured by shadow. A barely materialized courtroom surrounds them. Here, vulnerability and emotion are contrasted with the power and impartiality of the law. Forain, a former member of the Impressionist movement, became interested in representing law-court scenes after being deeply affected by the Dreyfus Affair trials. He founded a weekly satirical journal in which he published many etchings critiquing contemporary French society. This drawing is likely preparatory for an etching of the same subject that he published in April 1910.