Apollo, Mercury, and the Shepherdesses, Fable X in La Motte, Fables Nouvelles
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 3 1/8 × 3 7/8 in. (8 × 9.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1962
Accession Number
62.602.1034
Art Historical Context
In the enchanting world of early 18th-century French literature and art, *Apollo, Mercury, and Shepherdesses, Fable X* from Houdar de La Mot's *Fables Nouvelles* (171) captures a mythological tableau through the masterful etching of Charles Nicolas Cochin I after designs by Charles Antoine Coypel This petite print, measuring just 3 1/8 × 3 7/8 inches, exemplifies the Rococo era's delight in elegant, narrative scenes blending classical gods with pastoral charm. La Motte's fables, inspired by Aesop but infused with French wit, offered moral lessons in verse, and this illustration brings Fable X ...