Contes et nouvelles en vers: A Femme avare galant Escroc, from "Les Contes de la Fontaine"
Medium
Etching; first state of three (Cohen)
Dimensions
Sheet: 13 11/16 × 9 15/16 in. (34.8 × 25.3 cm) Plate: 12 1/2 × 9 5/8 in. (31.8 × 24.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
Accession Number
33.104.25
Tags
Art Historical Context
This etching from 1795 captures a lively scene from Jean La Fontaine’s *Contes et nouvelles en vers*, a collection of witty and often playful tales first published in the seventeenth century. The print, titled *A Femme avare galant Escroc* (“A Miserly Woman, a Gallant Swindler”), belongs to an elegant edition issued by Pierre Didot l’aîné. Designed by Jean-Honoré Fragonard and engraved by Jacques Aliamet, it reflects the Rococo artist’s signature flair for lighthearted, intimate narratives drawn from French literary tradition. Rendered in etching during its first state, the work depicts an el...
About the Artist
Jean de La Fontaine|Jean Honoré Fragonard|Jacques Aliamet|Pierre Didot l'ainé (French|French|French) · 1621 |1750 | –1695 |1780 |
French, Château-Thierry 1621–1695 Paris|active ca. 1750 (?)–1780|Paris