Allegory
Medium
Oil, with touches of black chalk, on tan laid paper, tipped on beige wove paper
Dimensions
Max: 13.3 × 9.6 cm (5 1/4 × 3 13/16 in.); Mount: 15.8 × 12.5 cm (6 1/4 × 4 15/16 in.)
Classification
oil on paper
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
149040
Art Historical Context
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin *Allegory* (1770) is a delicate oil sketch enhanced with touches of black chalk on tan laid paper, later tipped onto beige wove paper for. Measuring just 13.3 × 9.6 cm, this intimate work belongs to the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints Drawings collection, where it exemplifies 18th-century French draftsmanship. Saint-Aubin, a prolific Parisian engraver and painter from a celebrated artistic family, was renowned for intricate, whimsical depictions of contemporary life, often infused with Rococo elegance and subtle satire. Created during the late Rococo period, a...
About the Artist
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin · 1724–1780
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin (14 April 1724 – 14 February 1780) was born in Paris into an artistic family — one of fourteen children of the court embroiderer and engraver G.-G. de Saint-Aubin. Art ran deep in the family: his brothers Charles Germain and Augustin de Saint-Aubin were also accomplished artists. Gabriel received his earliest training at home before entering the studios of Étienne Je...