DISCOVERART

Harriet Cheney

Unwrapping the Mummy

before 1825
Lithograph in black on ivory wove paper
27.5 × 36.5 cm (10.8 × 14.4 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

Harriet Cheney learned how to make lithographic prints under the tutelage of Dominique-Vivant Denon, the diplomat, explorer, and director of the Musée du Louvre. This print by Cheney, showing a curious gathering in Denon’s Paris apartments, was once misinterpreted as depicting the autopsy of a monkey. What is actually taking place is the unwrapping of a mummy acquired by Denon on his Egyptian travels; Harriet can be seen, midsketch, at lower left.

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