Le Paysan de Gandelu (Portrait de l'abbé Pommyer)
Medium
Soft-ground etching printed in red ink
Dimensions
Image: 9 11/16 × 7 3/4 in. (24.6 × 19.7 cm) Plate: 11 × 8 1/16 in. (28 × 20.5 cm) Sheet: 12 in. × 8 15/16 in. (30.5 × 22.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1979
Accession Number
1979.621.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Le Paysan de GandeluPortrait de l'abbémyer)**, created around 1771 by Gilles Demarteau Charles Nicolas Cochin II captures the likeness of Abbé Pommyer in a charming, rustic guise as a "peasant of Gandelu." This French print from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection blends portraiture with playful characterization, reflecting the Enlightenment era's fascination with social types and human diversity. Cochin II, a leading Rococo engraver known for his elegant designs in books and theater, collaborated with Demarteau, a pioneer in innovative print techniques, to produc...
About the Artist
Gilles Demarteau|Charles Nicolas Cochin II · 1729–1776
Gilles Demarteau the Elder, born on January 19, 1722, in Liège, began his career steeped in the craft of metalwork. The son of a gunsmith, he learned engraving and goldsmithing from his father before moving to Paris around 1748–1750 to join his brother, who worked as a goldsmith for the engraver De Lacollombe, renowned for firearm ornament designs. Demarteau trained in De Lacollombe's workshop as ...