Decoration for a Plate: Notre Dame
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 15/16 × 18 3/4 in. (30.3 × 47.6 cm) Plate: 11 9/16 × 13 11/16 in. (29.3 × 34.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of David Keppel, 1922
Accession Number
22.1.33
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Félix Bracquemond’s *Decoration for a Plate: Notre Dame* (1870) is a delicate etching that evokes a tranquil nocturnal scene. The composition incorporates a woman beneath a glowing moon, framed by trees, with the silhouette of Notre-Dame Cathedral implied in the title. Created as a design for ceramic decoration, the demonstrates how Bracquemond translated atmospheric effects into a format suitable for tableware or ornamental objects. A leading figure in the nineteenth-century revival of etching, Bracquemond championed the medium’s expressive potential at a time when it was often dismissed as mere reproduction. His precise line work and subtle tonal gradations capture the quiet poetry of night, aligning with the era’s growing fascination for landscape and Japanese-inspired decorative motifs. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection, this sheet offers visitors a glimpse of how fine-art printmaking intersected with everyday design in Second Empire France.
About the Artist
Félix Bracquemond · 1833–1914
French, Paris 1833–1914 Sèvres