Design School, from Encyclopédie
Medium
Etching, with engraving, on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 31.5 × 20.4 cm (12 7/16 × 8 1/16 in.); Plate: 35.4 × 22.5 cm (13 15/16 × 8 7/8 in.); Sheet: 40 × 26 cm (15 3/4 × 10 1/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
148229
Art Historical Context
This etching and engraving by Benoît-Louis Prévost, created in 1763, originally appeared as a plate in Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert’s groundbreaking Encyclopédie. The image captures the interior of a design school, where students practice drawing and drafting under the guidance of instructors—an apt illustration for the ambitious publication’s goal of documenting and sharing practical knowledge across the arts and sciences during the Enlightenment. Prévost’s precise line work, achieved through a combination of etching and engraving on cream laid paper, exemplifies the refined pri...