La Matrone d'Ephese, from "Contes et nouvelles en vers par Jean de La Fontaine. A Paris, de l'imprimerie de P. Didot, l'an III de la République, 1795"
published in 1795
Medium
Etching and engraving; second state of three (Cohen)
Dimensions
Sheet: 13 3/4 × 10 1/2 in. (35 × 26.7 cm) Plate: 12 1/2 × 9 3/4 in. (31.8 × 24.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
Accession Number
33.104.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
This etching and engraving, titled *La Matrone d'Ephèse*, illustrates a tale from Jean de La Fontaine’s *Contes et nouvelles en vers*, a celebrated collection of witty and often irreverent stories first published in the seventeenth century. The scene draws from the ancient fable of the widow of Ephesus, who, while grieving beside her husband’s tomb, ultimately finds solace in the arms of a passing soldier. Created for the 1795 edition printed by P. Didot during the French Revolution’s Year III, the print captures the story’s blend of sorrow and unexpected desire. Jean Honoré Fragonard supplie...
About the Artist
Jean de La Fontaine|Jean Honoré Fragonard|Jean-Louis Delignon (French|French|French) · 1621 |1750 | –1695 |1780 |
French, Château-Thierry 1621–1695 Paris|active ca. 1750 (?)–1780|Paris