Le Mari Confesseur, 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; first state of three (Cohen)
Dimensions
Sheet: 13 11/16 × 10 in. (34.7 × 25.4 cm) Plate: 12 3/8 × 9 5/8 in. (31.5 × 24.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
Accession Number
33.104.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Le Mari Confesseur" is a delightful etching from a luxurious 1795 edition of Jean La Fontaine's *Contes et nouvelles en*, printed in Paris by the renowned Pierre Didot l'aîné during the French Republic's third year. This playful illustration captures one of La Fontaine's, often risqué tales from his 17th-century collection where a husband plays confessor in a tale of marital mischief. Produced amid the Revolution's aftermath, the volume reflects a brief resurgence of elegant book arts, blending Enlightenment wit with neoclassical refinement. Jean Honoré Fragonard, the celebrated Rococo maste...
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