A gentleman with his head turned towards the right in profile, wearing a plumed hat and a cloak with the cross of the Order of the Holy Spirit, holding a whip in his right hand and his left arm in a sling, from "La Jardin de la Noblesse Françoise dans lequel ce peut ceuillir leur maniere de Vettements"
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 3/8 × 5 1/16 in. (18.8 × 12.8 cm) Plate: 5 9/16 × 3 3/4 in. (14.2 × 9.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.21.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
This etching, created in 1629 by Bosse after designs by Jean de Saint-Ig, captures a nobleman in elegant profile, his head turned right. He sports a plumed hat, a flowing cloak adorned with the distinctive cross of the Order of Holy Spirit—a prestigious French chivalric order founded in 1578—and holds a whip in his right while his left arm rests in a sling. Titled *A gentleman with his head towards the right in profile*, it hails fromLa Jardin de la Nobse Françoise*, a celebrated series documenting the attire and fashions of French aristocracy during the reign of Louis XIII. As an etching, a ...
About the Artist
Abraham Bosse|Jean de Saint-Igny · 1602–1676
Abraham Bosse (1604–1676) was a French printmaker and theorist whose approximately 1,600 etchings provide an unparalleled visual record of 17th-century French life. Born to Huguenot parents in Tours, he trained in Paris under Melchior Tavernier and became a devoted follower of Jacques Callot's technical innovations. Bosse's meticulous etchings depicted subjects ranging from daily life and fashion ...