Idyll: a naked youth seated outdoors on a plinth playing a double flute, a goat on the ground before him
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 17 15/16 × 12 15/16 in. (45.5 × 32.8 cm) Plate: 7 7/8 × 5 11/16 in. (20 × 14.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Junius S. Morgan
Accession Number
23.106.22
Tags
Art Historical Context
Mariano Fortuny’s 1865 etching *Idyll* captures a tranquil, classically inspired scene: a nude youth seated on a stone plinth plays a double flute while a goat rests at his feet. Created during the artist’s time in Rome, the small plate (roughly 8 by 6 inches) demonstrates Fortuny’s remarkable skill in the etching medium, where fine, delicate lines evoke both the softness of flesh and the textures of outdoor light and foliage. The larger sheet size suggests it was intended as a presentation print, suitable for collectors. Fortuny, a leading Spanish artist of the nineteenth century, was celebr...
About the Artist
Mariano Fortuny, 1838–1874 (Spanish) · 1838 –1874
Spanish, 1838–1874