Gustave Doré's Satirical History of Holy Russia Republished

A new edition of Gustave Doré's early masterpiece, "Histoire de la Sainte Russie" (History of Holy Russia), has been released by Italian publisher Eris. Originally published in 1853 when Doré was just 22, the book is a satirical pictorial history of Russia, created in response to the Crimean War (1853-1855). The war began when Russia attacked the Ottoman Empire, prompting France, Britain, Austria, and the Kingdom of Sardinia to intervene. Doré, already a prolific artist who had published three volumes by age 15, used the anti-Russian sentiment in France to unleash his innovative visual storytelling. The work features a vast array of formal experiments: varying panel sizes, montage techniques, and registers from comic to tragic. It anticipates his later iconic illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy, Perrault's Fairy Tales, Don Quixote, the Bible, and Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. The new edition, priced at €25, improves upon a previous 1980 edition by Comic Art that went largely unnoticed. Doré is credited with revolutionizing illustration, breaking from past rigidities and influencing artists beyond Grandville and Daumier.