# Head of a Raven in Profile, from The Raven (Le Corbeau)

**Édouard Manet** (French, 1832–1883)  
1875  
Transfer lithograph in black on tan simili-parchment paper  
Image: 16.3 × 15.9 cm (6 7/16 × 6 5/16 in.); Sheet folded: 55 × 41.2 cm (21 11/16 × 16 1/4 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1945.52.1. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/111362).

## About this work

A raven’s head in profile, set down in a few bold brushstrokes, belongs to the edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven that Stéphane Mallarmé translated and Manet illustrated in 1875. Alongside the full-page scenes, Manet designed smaller motifs such as this one, which reduces the bird to a sharp beak, a bright eye and a ruff of black feathers. The transfer lithograph process let him draw on paper with brush and ink and have the image printed directly, with all the spontaneity of his hand intact.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Édouard Manet made this in 1875, aged 43. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of transfer lithograph in black on tan simili-parchment paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Lithograph.** Drawn on limestone with a greasy crayon or ink. The stone is kept damp, and the oily printing ink clings only to the drawing. Invented in the 1790s, it let artists print exactly as they drew.

### [Édouard Manet](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/edouard-manet)

French, 1832–1883; born in Paris; died in Paris

Manet came from a prosperous Parisian family, trained under Thomas Couture and studied the old masters, Velázquez above all. In the 1860s he provoked critics with Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Olympia, modern subjects painted in flat, frank colour with little modelling. Though he never showed with the Impressionists, younger painters looked to him as a leader, and in his last years he painted Parisian café life and A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: France
- The artist was 43
- Real size: about 6½ × 6 in (16 × 15 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 19th century
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/279.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/279/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/head-of-a-raven-in-profile-from-the-raven-le-corbeau-aic-111362).