Medium
Etching
Dimensions
sheet: 7 13/16 x 10 1/8 in. (19.8 x 25.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.600.1079(9)
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Earth," an exquisite etching by Louis Félix de Rue after François Boucher, captures playful elegance of 18th-century French Roc art. Boucher, a leading Rococo painter celebrated for his lush, mythological scenes and decorative charm, often inspired engravers like La Rue, masterfully translated paintings into prints. This undated work, measuring 7 13/16 x 10 1/8 inches, likely personifies the element of Earth in an allegorical style popular during the Enlightenment era, blending natural abundance with whimsical human forms. Etching, the medium here, allowed artists like La Rue to achieve intr...