Luc Olivier Merson

For the 1889 edition of Victor Hugo's 1831 novel Notre-Dame de Paris, published by A Ferroud, Paris, Merson produced a set of full-page illustrations, heads- and tail-pieces which were etched by Adolphe-Alphonse Géry-Bichard. The beloved tale recounts the history of the disfigured orphan Quasimodo who was taken in and raised by the archdeacon at Notre Dame in Paris. The novel's popularity created an abiding interest in Gothic architecture and the history--and mysteries--of the cathedral.
Merson worked intensively on his vignettes, executing initial studies in pen and ink and often working them up into elaborate, full-scale wash drawings. This illustration appears in Vol. I, Book IV, Chap. V. Here, the archdeacon of Notre Dame, Claude Frollo, examines the sculptural figures that adorn the tomb of the medieval alchemist Nicolas Flamel in the Sants-Innocents Cemetery. Frollo is often seen visiting the cemetery, and his interest in Flamel fuels rumors that he practices sorcery and black magic.