Jean-Baptiste OudryFrench, 1686–1755Belphagore
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Belphagore” now? Collection: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Not on view at present. Checked October 7, 2026.
Los Angeles, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Pluto sends a demon to investigate married life in Jean-Baptiste Oudry's Belphagore, drawn in 1734 and now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. The ruler occupies a raised seat in the burning underworld, his subjects below and Belphagore before him. La Fontaine's tale asks whether spouses lead each other into sin. Disguised as a wealthy merchant, the demon forces a woman to marry him, but she escapes with her lover and resists his later advances. Oudry used dark ink and opaque white on blue paper. The sheet joined his 276 illustrations published in the 1755 luxury edition of the Fables.
In the museum's words
This drawing by Jean-Baptiste Oudry illustrates a fable by poet Jean de La Fontaine. The fable is based on a myth told in Niccolò Machiavelli's novel *Mandragola.* Pluto, the ruler of the underworld, sits above his subjects in the fiery depths of Hades; the demon Belphagore stands before him. As the drawing shows, he is about to send Belphagore to earth to find the answer to an eternal question: whether spouses influence their mates to sin. In the guise of a rich merchant, Belphagore forces a woman to marry him. She is in love with another man, however, and escapes with him. Even after Belphagore disguises himself again and tries to seduce her, she stays virtuous. Employed as a tapestry designer by day, Oudry worked after hours over a five-year period to produce 276 illustrations for De La Fontaine's *Fables.* The drawings are rich in contrast, with dark ink and white heightening on blue paper. Oudry rendered them in meticulous detail, with loose and inventive brushwork. He eventually sold the drawings, which were published in a luxury edition of La Fontaine's *Fables* in 1755.
J. Paul Getty Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 2002.52.4
In the catalog
Sources
- J. Paul Getty Museum
- Image: J. Paul Getty Museum — Open Content
