Claire Hénault’s Les péchés capitaux et vertus cardinales (The Deadly Sins and Cardinal Virtues) brings the traditional transgressions – plus two ‘redeeming virtues’ – into the artist’s richly imagined world of sensuality, fantasy and symbolism. Rather than illustrating the sins as straightforward moral allegories, Hénault gives each one a distinctive female presence, surrounded by an exuberant accumulation of costumes, creatures, flowers and food.

The plates range from the theatrical self-regard of L’orgueil (Pride) and the languid abandon of La paresse (Sloth) to the more overt sensuality of La luxure (Lust). La gourmandise (Gluttony) is surrounded by a profusion of fruits and confections, while L’avarice (Greed), L’envie (Envy) and La colère (Wrath) have their own visual vocabularies.

As elsewhere in Hénault’s work, the figures are neither simply realistic nor conventionally symbolic. Their elaborate hair, costumes and surroundings grow organically into landscapes, creating an atmosphere in which the boundaries between woman, ornament, animal and dream are deliberately blurred. The black-and-white medium intensifies the effect, allowing the burin’s fine lines to build an extraordinary range of textures and delicate tonal gradations.

Here are the titles:

L’orgueil (Pride)
L’avarice (Greed)
La luxure (Lust)
L’envie (Envy)
La gourmandise (Gluttony)
La colère (Wrath)
La paresse (Sloth)
Les degrés de la tempérance (The Degrees of Temperance)
Pléthore de plumes (Profusion of Feathers)