Hearing

Art Historical Context

Step into the enchanting world of 17th-century French domestic life with *Hearing*, a masterful etching created around 1638 by Abraham Bosse, with Melchior Tavernier as publisher. This print vividly captures a lively gathering of men and women musicians immersed in performance, featuring cellos and lutes that fill the scene with implied melody. As one of Bosse's renowned *Five Senses* series it allegorically celebrates the sense of hearing, blending everyday leisure with symbolic depth—a popular motif in Baroque-era art that reflected humanity's sensory experiences. Bosse, a leading French printmaker and theorist, excelled in etching, a technique using acid to incise fine lines on metal plates for intricate, reproducible details. Here, the trimmed sheet (10½ × 13¼ in.) showcases his precision in rendering textures—from the curves of string instruments to the expressive figures—making complex compositions accessible to a wide audience through affordable prints. Tavernier, a prominent Parisian publisher, helped disseminate such works, bridging elite art with public appreciation. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1926), *Hearing* offers a window into the cultural vibrancy of Louis XIII's France, where music fostered social bonds in intimate settings. It's a delightful reminder of art's power to evoke sounds long silenced by time.

About the Artist

Abraham Bosse|Melchior Tavernier · 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 ...