UDERZO Albert (1927-2020) - Lot 331

UDERZO Albert (1927-2020) Asterix - Caesar's Laurels India ink on paper for plate 39 from the album. Signed and dedicated below. 47.8 x 38.7 cm. Dargaud, 1972. In Les Lauriers de César (1972), Asterix and Obelix must find Caesar's crown, the pretext for a burlesque journey to Rome. Plate 39 marks a comic turn in the album. The serious mission turns into chaos, symbolizing the contrast between Gallic discipline and Roman disorder. This was one of the last periods in which Uderzo and Goscinny worked in perfect symbiosis. Uderzo reached a graphic peak here, while exploring new urban settings (Rome, as opposed to the Gaulish countryside). A stylistic analysis of this plate illustrates several features characteristic of Uderzo's style at its peak in the early 1970s: - The black silhouettes in the first panel: These reflect Uderzo's use of shadows to create the transition to twilight, a rare device in the Asterix universe, used here for the nocturnal infiltration. - The caricatured gestures of the drunken Romans (the singing soldier): The elastic, exaggerated attitude of the drunken Roman character is clearly the result of the author's sense of theatrical movement. - Framing: The alternation between wide shots and close-ups, always at the service of narrative legibility, a direct legacy of the classic Franco-Belgian school. The artistic quality of this plate lies not only in Uderzo's absolutely masterful line (each face is expressive and legible, even in silhouette), but above all in the inking. The particular care taken in applying the Indian ink shows that Uderzo himself accomplished this task. Shadows are worked in dense black ink, balancing the composition without losing clarity. It's a perfect balance between legibility and expressiveness. Historical and cultural references are present in the album Les lauriers de César and in our plate. It takes place in Rome, at the heart of imperial power, which is rare in the early albums (Asterix is often confined to Gaul). The narrow streets, the monuments, the sebaciara (Roman night watchman) and the Roman tunics are all carefully documented details, but deliberately diverted to serve the comedy. As is often the case with Goscinny's work, puns and anachronisms feature prominently in this plate. "Les bibelots de chez Tifus" echoes contemporary advertising slogans from 1960-70s France, while the bawdy Roman songs parody Gallic or Latin drinking songs. Goscinny's trademark blend of erudition and popular humor makes Asterix as much a historical as a social satire. This plate, for example, pokes fun at the decadent and corrupt Romans, the cult of Caesar and, in the background, the excesses of contemporary society (consumerism and drinking).