We shall not refuse to artists the right to probe the wounds of society and lay them bare to our eyes
 George Sand, The Devil's Pool (1846). copy citation

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Author George Sand
Source The Devil's Pool
Topic society wound
Date 1846
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by Jane Minot Sedgwick and Ellery Sedgwick
Weblink https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Devils_Pool_(1895)

Context

“Albert Dürer, Michael Angelo, Holbein, Callot, and Goya have made powerful satires on the evils of their times and countries, and their immortal works are historical documents of unquestionable value. We shall not refuse to artists the right to probe the wounds of society and lay them bare to our eyes; but is the only function of art still to threaten and appall? In the literature of the mysteries of iniquity, which talent and imagination have brought into fashion, we prefer the sweet and gentle characters, which can attempt and effect conversions, to the melodramatic villains, who inspire terror;” source