To Malherbe

Close up of To Malherbe

An open book with an egg nestled in the spine, all made of rose-colored onyx. An inscription in French painted in black at the bottom reads, "L’espace d’un matin" (The span of a morning).
An open book with an egg nestled in the spine, all made of rose-colored onyx. An inscription in French painted in black at the bottom reads, "L’espace d’un matin" (The span of a morning).
Mirella Bentivoglio, À Malherbe, 1975; Onyx, 3 1/4 x 7 x 5 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of the artist; © Mirella Bentivoglio; Photo by Lee Stalsworth

To Malherbe (À Malherbe) is dedicated to the French renaissance poet François de Malherbe, whose famous poem, “Consolation á M. Du Périer” deals with the death of Du Périer’s young daughter Marguerite. The brevity of her life is compared to that of a rose: “Et rose elle a vécu ce que vivent les roses/ L’espace d’un matin” (A rose, she has lived as long as roses live/The span of a morning).

The book, realized in rose-colored onyx, extends the allusion to the color of dawn and a brief life, of which the only memory is its early and most beautiful phase.

Artwork Details

  • Artist

    Mirella Bentivoglio

  • Title

    To Malherbe

  • Date

    1975

  • Medium

    Onyx

  • Dimensions

    5 3/8 x 7 1/8 x 2 1/4 in.

  • Donor Credit

    Gift of the Artist

  • Photo Credit

    © Mirella Bentivoglio; Photo by Lee Stalsworth

  • On Display

    No

The Artist, Mirella Bentivoglio

Mirella Bentivoglio is known for her exploration of the relationship between image and word.
Close-up black and white photo of an older woman with light skin and cropped hair. She holds up two small, speckled eggs to her eyes, the right one just visible. She sits in a bright, sun-lit room, a window on her right and wears a dark blazer and wrist watch.