Recueil de Desseins Ridicules

This is a page from a bound manuscript volume containing approx. 125 pen-and-ink drawings by Georges Focus, often signed by the author and sometimes dated 1694 or 1695. This artwork was produced during his confinement at the Parisian asylum 'Les Petites Maisons', where he was sent in 1680. The illustrations represent various scenes, such as episodes of the artist’s life taking place in mainly Parisian or Roman settings, and excerpts from Virgile Travesti by the poet Pierre Scarron. Focus successively identifies himself with Christ, with the King of France, with the Emperor and with the Pope in a disjointed story, composed in more or less regular alexandrine and referring to himself sometimes in the first person, sometimes in the third person.

University of Edinburgh, Rare Books Collections: Coll-1975