Le Perruquier fatigué (The Tired Wigmaker)
1775
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 24.1 x 16.7 cm (9 1/2 x 6 9/16 in.) sheet: 38.2 x 26.6 cm (15 1/16 x 10 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
1998.143.2
Art Historical Context
In the late 18th century, David, a skilled Italian engraver from Genoa, the whimsical exhaustion of everyday life in *Le Perruquier fatigu (The Tired Wigm)*, an etching from 5. This intimate print, measuring just 24.1 x 16.7 cm on the plate, depicts a weary artisan slumped in his trade—a nod to the booming wig-making industry that defined European fashion during the Rococo era. Powdered wigs, symbols of status and frivolity among the aristocracy, required meticulous craftsmanship, and David's scene likely offers a humorous, empathetic glimpse into the labor behind such extravagance. Etching o...
About the Artist
Giovanni David · 1749–1790
Giovanni David (1743–1790) was a Genoese painter and etcher whose brief career, shaped by distinguished patronage and wide-ranging travel, produced a body of work remarkable for its experimental verve. Born in Genoa, he came under the protection of Count Giacomo Durazzo, a cultivated Genoese nobleman and diplomat who became the defining figure of his artistic life. Durazzo sponsored David's traini...