A wonderful lithograph caricature of French pianist Émile Prudent, shown with his hands delicately raised above the piano, his foot hovering above the pedals, and his long hair falling across his eyes. He sits on a tasseled stool and his beard is colored brown.

The image was drawn by Nadar and Riou for the cover of the March 12, 1859 issue of the Journal Amusant.

Émile Prudent was orphaned and adopted by a piano tuner who both brought him up and taught him music. He entered the Conservatoire at age ten and made his first public performance alongside international virtuoso Sigismond Thalberg. He was based in Paris for most of his life and enjoyed particularly the performance and sale of his fantasy on Lucia di Lammermoor, op. 8.