Domenico Viola, Italian, born Naples, - Triomphe de Midas - unknown - T-Shirt

A pen and brown wash drawing shows a statue of King Midas, crowned with a pair of ass's ears, raised on a scrolled pedestal while a crowd gathers at its base.

Visual Elements & Composition

The sheet is built from quick contour lines and warm, broad washes of sepia and tan over a pale ground. The standing figure sits at the centre, his long robe loosely draped and his right arm extended outward. Around the plinth, a crowd presses in, several faces exaggerated or animal-like, one figure kneeling low at the right. Behind them rises a rotunda with a coffered cornice, and four small winged putti stand in niches, each holding a rod. The inscription Triomphe de Midas runs across the front of the pedestal, the only text in the image.

Meaning & Symbolism

Midas was punished with ass's ears for his poor judgement in a musical contest. The drawing takes that disgrace and stages it as a public triumph, placing the humiliated king on a monument before a crowd that appears to honour him. The gap between the title and the scene is the joke. Satirical imagery of this kind was used to mock vanity, flattery and the folly of rulers, and the pedestal stands for the hollow glory a corrupt court bestows on itself. Domenico Viola was an Italian artist born in Naples, and this sheet belongs to his graphic work, where allegory and satire were handled in pen and wash.

Wearing the Triumph

On a tee, the drawing spreads across the chest and moves with the wearer, so the crowd and the statue are read in pieces as the shirt shifts. The mockery is best seen up close, where the exaggerated faces and the inscription come clear. The image carries its satire with it wherever the shirt goes.