L'Asie, from the Almanach iconologique
Medium
Etching with engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 4 5/16 x 6 1/2 in. (11 x 16.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.217
Tags
Art Historical Context
**L'Asie, from the Almanach iconologique**ca. 1765–81) is a delicate etching with engraving by French rococo artists Hubert François Gravelot and Jean de Ghendt. small print, measuring just 4 5/16 x 6 1/2 inches, personifies the continent of Asia through elegant female figures, accompanied by camels—evoking vast deserts and trade routes—and ornate censers, symbols of exotic rituals and incense-filled temples. Part of the *Almanach iconologique a popular French almanac series blending calendars with symbolic illustrations, it captures the 18th-century fascination with global exploration and all...
About the Artist
Hubert François Gravelot|Emmanuel Jean de Ghendt
Hubert-François Bourguignon, known as Gravelot (1699–1773), was a leading French Rococo engraver, illustrator, and designer whose elegant draftsmanship bridged the artistic worlds of France and England. Born in Paris to a tailor, he adopted his pseudonym from a godfather and grew up alongside his elder brother, the geographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville. After neglecting studies at the Col...