Art, literature & history
The Terrible Director. “- Indeed! You are telling me that you missed today's rehearsal because you had to set leeches onto your mother? - Yes sir. - But, when you first came here three months ago, you told me that you were an orphan. This is the first time in my long career at the theater that I have met a person who sets leeches on the body of a dead person,” plate 5 from Les Moments Difficiles De La Vie
1864
- Dating
- Exact year
- Held at
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Medium
- Lithograph in black on white wove paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 23.7 × 20.2 cm (9 3/8 × 8 in.); Sheet: 34.9 × 26.5 cm (13 3/4 × 10 7/16 in.)
- Collection no.
- 1953.600
- Attribution
- By the artist
- Image rights
- CC0 1.0License details
Honoré Daumier. The Terrible Director. “- Indeed! You are telling me that you missed today's rehearsal because you had to set leeches onto your mother? - Yes sir. - But, when you first came here three months ago, you told me that you were an orphan. This is the first time in my long career at the theater that I have met a person who sets leeches on the body of a dead person,” plate 5 from Les Moments Difficiles De La Vie. Art Institute of Chicago. CC0 1.0. Compressed full-frame reproduction.
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
About this artwork
The Terrible Director. “- Indeed! You are telling me that you missed today's rehearsal because you had to set leeches onto your mother? - Yes sir. - But, when you first came here three months ago, you told me that you were an orphan. This is the first time in my long career at the theater that I have met a person who sets leeches on the body of a dead person,” plate 5 from Les Moments Difficiles De La Vie — Honoré Daumier. 1864.
Medium: Lithograph in black on white wove paper. Dimensions: Image: 23.7 × 20.2 cm (9 3/8 × 8 in.); Sheet: 34.9 × 26.5 cm (13 3/4 × 10 7/16 in.).
Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.
Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.
Location checked Sep 10, 2026. This does not indicate whether the work is on display.