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Jean Baptiste Mallet

Natural Worship

1794
Etching on ivory laid paper
39.9 × 49.2 cm (15.7 × 19.4 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Jean Baptiste Mallet studied with Pierre-Paul Prud’hon and exhibited in Paris Salons between 1793 and 1827. This large-scale etching depicts a Republican baptism ceremony during the French Revolution. The revolutionary leader Robespierre promoted and mandated participation in the Cult of the Supreme Being, an alternative faith to both Catholicism and the atheistic Cult of Reason. Robespierre’s religious tenets appear in the background banners, reading from left to right: “Freedom of Worship,” “We believe in the existence of the supreme being and the immortality of the soul,” and “Adore God, cherish your fellow man, and render yourself useful to your homeland.”

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