(Paris 1857–1940 Fondettes)
“Aimez-vous les uns les autres” or “La transgression du commandement”, signed, dated and inscribed Henri Danger Roma MDCCCXCII,
oil on canvas, 157 x 217 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
acquired by the current owner’s father in the 1970s;
by inheritance to the current owner;
Private Collection, Germany.

Exhibited:
Salon de peinture et de sculpture, Paris 1893, no. 478.

Henri Camille Danger studied under Jean-Léon Gerôme (1824–1904) and Aimé Millet (1819–1891) at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He received the Grand Prix de Rome in 1887 for a painting titled “The death of Demosthenes”. In 1888 he was awarded the opportunity to continue his studies at the French Academy in Rome, located at the Villa Medici. He stayed there until 1891.
The present painting established his international reputation and is one of the artist’s iconic works. It shows the artist’s personal interest in a religious theme that occupied him at the beginning of the 1890s. He captures the drama of those who did not follow the commandments.
As is evident from an oil sketch for this painting, which is now in a private collection, he dealt with this subject with meticulousness and dedication. Works by H. C. Danger were also exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris and he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur in 1903.