L'Assomption

Art Historical Context

This delicate etching and engraving captures the Assumption of the Virgin, a revered Christian subject showing the Virgin Mary’s ascent into heaven. Created through the collaboration of painter François Boucher and master printmaker Jacques Philippe Le Bas, the work translates Boucher’s graceful Rococo vision into a reproducible format. Putti surround the ascending figure while earthly witnesses look on in wonder, their forms rendered with the light, elegant lines typical of eighteenth-century French art. The medium itself holds special significance. Etching and engraving allowed artists like Le Bas to reproduce paintings for a broader audience, spreading devotional imagery and artistic taste across Europe. The small scale—roughly the size of a postcard—made such prints affordable and portable, turning grand religious scenes into objects for personal reflection and study. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Drawings and Prints, this sheet exemplifies how Rococo elegance met traditional religious themes. Its presence in the collection reminds visitors of the vital role prints played in shaping visual culture long before photography.

About the Artist

Jacques Philippe Le Bas|François Boucher · 1707–1783

Comment on works: Engraver