An evil man, representing medicine and religion (?), gloats over the death of the freedom of the individual in Switzerland to consume absinthe, represented as a green woman stabbed by a cross. Colour lithograph after A.-H. Gantner, 1910.

  • Gantner, Albert-Henri, 1866-
Date:
[1910]
Reference:
46903i
Part of:
Guguss'
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view An evil man, representing medicine and religion (?), gloats over the death of the freedom of the individual in Switzerland to consume absinthe, represented as a green woman stabbed by a cross. Colour lithograph after A.-H. Gantner, 1910.

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An evil man, representing medicine and religion (?), gloats over the death of the freedom of the individual in Switzerland to consume absinthe, represented as a green woman stabbed by a cross. Colour lithograph after A.-H. Gantner, 1910. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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Description

The central figure wears a blue cross on his chest and carries a Bible. He points to a clock held by a bat, indicating midnight on 7 October 1910, the deadline for absinthe-drinkers, and stands in triumph over the cadaver of a green, half-naked good-time girl representing absinth (the "green fairy"). She has been murdered with a dagger, the hilt of which is also in the form of a blue cross: her death represents the end of good times for absinthe-drinkers and the absinthe industry. In the background, left, the oath of the Rütli, 1291, representing the flourishing of Swiss liberty; right, Switzerland personified by a decrepit seated Norn, representing the degeneration of liberty in 1910

Publication/Creation

[Geneva] : [Guguss'], [1910]

Physical description

1 print : lithograph, printed in colours ; image and border 49 x 31 cm.

Series

Lettering

Messieurs ... c'est l'heure. La fin de la "Fée verte" (Suppression de l'absinthe en Suisse). Adieu chère liberté de l'industrie. Offert par la maison Corboz et Fischlin à Romont. Gantner

References note

G. Keller, 'Return of the "green fairy"', Swiss review, June 2004, 3: 16-17

Reference

Wellcome Collection 46903i

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