Earth
ca. 1648
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 9 13/16 × 12 1/2 in. (24.9 × 31.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1924
Accession Number
24.36.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
Abraham Bosse's *Earth*, created around 1648, is a captivating etching from the golden age of French printmaking As a leading figure in 17th-century Paris, Bosse was renowned for his technical mastery of etching—a process where acid bites into a metal plate to create intricate lines—and his influential treatises on the art, which helped standardize techniques for future generations. This print, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Drawings and Prints, measures about 10 by 12 inches and exemplifies the Baroque era's fascination with allegory and abundance. The composition likely personi...
About the Artist
Abraham Bosse · 1602–1676
Abraham Bosse (1604–1676) was a French printmaker and theorist whose approximately 1,600 etchings provide an unparalleled visual record of 17th-century French life. Born to Huguenot parents in Tours, he trained in Paris under Melchior Tavernier and became a devoted follower of Jacques Callot's technical innovations. Bosse's meticulous etchings depicted subjects ranging from daily life and fashion ...