Le Repentir Tardif (The Tardy Repentance)
c. 1760-1790
Medium
Engraving with etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 32 × 23.7 cm (12 5/8 × 9 3/8 in.); Plate: 42 × 30.3 cm (16 9/16 × 11 15/16 in.); Sheet: 43.1 × 31 cm (17 × 12 1/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
30305
Art Historical Context
Nicolas Lavreince’s “Le Repentir Tardif (The Tardy Repentance),” created between 1760 and 1790, presents a narrative scene of moral reflection rendered as an engraving with etching on ivory laid paper. Now preserved in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints and Drawings collection, the work measures roughly 32 by 24 centimeters in the image area, a scale well suited to private contemplation rather than grand public display. In the later eighteenth century, such prints played a vital role in spreading visual stories beyond aristocratic circles. Etching and engraving techniques allowed artists t...
About the Artist
Nicolas Lavreince · 1740–1812
**Nicolas Lavreince (Niklas Lafrensen the Younger)** Nicolas Lavreince, born Niklas Lafrensen on October 30, 1737, in Stockholm, Sweden, was the son of the esteemed miniature portrait painter Niklas Lafrensen the Elder and Magdalena Stuur. He received his initial training under his father, mastering the delicate techniques of miniature painting and gouache on ivory, paper, and parchment, which be...