François Bosquet
1671
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 15 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. (38.8 x 31.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. Lev Tsitrin, 2001
Accession Number
2001.647.10
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of 17th French portraiture with Robert Nanteuil's *François Bosquet* (1671), a engraving now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department. striking print, measuring 15¼ x 12¼ inches, captures the sitter—a distinguished man—adorned with a cross and coat of arms, symbols evoking nobility or ecclesiastical rank. Donated in 2001 by Mr. Lev Tsitrin, it exemplifies the era's fascination with commemorative likenesses of prominent figures. Nanteuil, one of France's premier engravers during Louis XIV's reign, elevated printmaking to an art form ...
About the Artist
Robert Nanteuil · 1623–1678
Robert Nanteuil (1623-1678) was a French portrait engraver, draughtsman, and pastellist who became the preeminent portraitist to the court of Louis XIV. His technical mastery and royal patronage fundamentally transformed the status of engraving in France, elevating it from a mechanical craft to a recognized fine art. Nanteuil stands as the outstanding French portrait engraver of the seventeenth c...