Le Faucon, La Coupe Enchantee, 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"
Medium
Etching and engraving; second state of three (Cohen)
Dimensions
Sheet: 14 1/16 × 10 1/8 in. (35.7 × 25.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
Accession Number
33.104.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
This enchanting print, titled *Le Faucon, La Enchantée*, comes from a luxurious 1795 edition of de La Fontaine's *es et nouvelles en vers printed in Paris by Pierre Didot'aîné during the French Republic's Year III. La Fontaine's witty, often risqué tales drew from classical fables, and this volume—produced amid the revolutionary fervor—revived 17th-century literary elegance with neoclassical flair. The illustration captures vignettes from "The Falcon" and "The Enchanted Cup," evoking playful allegory through scenes of men and women in opulent dining rooms, accompanied by dogs, stairs, firearms...
About the Artist
Jean de La Fontaine|Jean Honoré Fragonard|Jean-Baptiste Tilliard|Pierre Didot l'ainé (French|French|French) · 1621 |1750 | –1695 |1780 |
French, Château-Thierry 1621–1695 Paris|active ca. 1750 (?)–1780|Paris