Book 5, Fable 14: the present and the future (Le present et l'avenir)
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 3 1/8 × 3 13/16 in. (8 × 9.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1962
Accession Number
62.602.1036(15)
Art Historical Context
**Book 5, Fable 14: The Present and the Future (Le et l'avenir)** Nicolas Henry Tardieu after Charles Antoine Coypel, with text by Jean de La Fontaine, 1719* Etching and engraving; Sheet (trimmed): 3 1/8 × 3 13/16 in. (8 × 9.7 cm) This delicate print captures a moment from Jean de La's beloved *Fables*, specifically Book 5, Fable 14, which explores the tension between immediate joys and uncertain tomorrows. La Fontaine, the 17-century French master of moral tales, drew from Aesop to craft witty animal stories that critiqued human folly during Louis XIV's opulent reign. By 1719, under th...
About the Artist
Nicolas Henry Tardieu|Lamotte-Houdar|Jean de La Fontaine|Charles Antoine Coypel (French|French) · 1674 |1684 –1749 |1721
French, Paris 1674–1749 Paris|French, Valenciennes 1684–1721 Nogent-sur-Marne