Hyacinthe and Passion Fruit Flower, plate two from Mes Petits Bouquets
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
Plate: 23.7 × 17.5 cm (9 3/8 × 6 15/16 in.); Sheet: 27.8 × 20 cm (11 × 7 7/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
153606
Art Historical Context
Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin’s *Hyacinthe and Passion Fruit Flower* is plate two from the series *Mes Petits Bouquets* (“My Little Bouquets”). This delicate etching on paper captures the graceful form of a hyacinth alongside the intricate tendrils and exotic bloom of a passion fruit flower. Measuring just 23.7 × 17.5 cm for the plate, the work exemplifies the intimate scale often favored in 18th-century printmaking, inviting close viewing and appreciation of fine botanical detail. Etching allowed Saint-Aubin to translate the fragile textures of petals and leaves into crisp, reproducible lin...