Le Grand Visir (The Grand Vizir), from the series "Caravane du Sultan à la Mecque..." (Caravan of a Sultan Going to Mecca)
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
sheet: 7 15/16 x 5 1/4 in. (20.2 x 13.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
Accession Number
33.104.2537
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Le Grand Visir ( Grand Vizir)**, etching by French artist Joseph Marie Vien from his 1748 series *avane du Sultan à Mecque...* (Caravan of a Going to Mecca), captures grandeur of an Ottoman official amid a hajj pilgrimage procession. Vien, a pivotal figure bridging Rococo elegance and emerging Neoclassicism, inspiration from Eastern exoticism popular in 18th-century. This intimate print (7 15/16 x 5 1/4 in.) showcases a turbaned vizier, sword at his side, evoking the splendor of imperial travel to Islam's holiest city. Etching allowed Vien to meticulously render fine details—like flowing ro...
About the Artist
Joseph Marie Vien · 1716–1809
Baroque painter and one of the earliest French painters to work in the Neo-classical style. He influenced some of the most prominent artists of heroic Neo-classicism, including his students Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Baptiste Regnault, Jean-François-Pierre Peyron, and Joseph-Benoît Suvée. Comment on works: History