Frontispiece, plate one from Vasi Invention
1768, published 1770
Medium
Etching with drypoint on tan laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 22.6 × 18.6 cm (8 15/16 × 7 3/8 in.); Plate: 24.8 × 20.8 cm (9 13/16 × 8 1/4 in.); Sheet: 30.9 × 22.8 cm (12 3/16 × 9 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
153575
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 18th-century French design with Jean-Laurent Legeay's *Frontispiece, plate from Vasi Invention* (1768, published1770). Legeay, a talented architect and engraver who trained in Paris and worked in Rome, captured the neoclassical fascination with ancient Roman motifs during the Enlightenment era. This frontispiece—likely an ornamental introduction to a series of inventive vase designs (*vasi* meaning vases in Italian)—showcases intricate architectural fantasies, blending symmetry and grandeur to inspire decorators, silversmiths, and architects of the time. Printed...