An old woman holding a mousetrap while a young girl holds a string attached to its tail
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Plate: 17 1/2 × 13 1/2 in. (44.4 × 34.3 cm) Sheet: 20 5/8 × 15 7/8 in. (52.4 × 40.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1947
Accession Number
47.100.372
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, this enchanting 18th-century engraving by Venetian artists Antonio Marinetti andcolò Cavalli (ca. 1750–80) captures a whimsical domestic moment: an old woman clutches a mousetrap while a young girl playfully tugs a string attached to its, with a mouse presumably in the mix. The sizable plate (17½ × 13½ inches) allowed for intricate details, making it a standout example of collaborative printmaking from Venice's vibrant artistic scene during the late Rococo period. Engraving, the medium here, involved incising fine lines into ...
About the Artist
Antonio Marinetti|Niccolò Cavalli (Italian|Italian) · 1710 |1730 –1796 |1822
Italian, Chioggia 1710–1796 Venice|Italian, Longarone, 1730–1822