Le Theatre Italien
1724–1780
Medium
Etching, before first state
Dimensions
sheet: 6 7/16 x 5 3/16 in. (16.3 x 13.2 cm) image: 5 13/16 x 4 5/16 in. (14.7 x 11 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1939
Accession Number
39.31.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin's *Le Théâtre Italien* captures the vibrant nightlife of 18th-century in a delicate etching, likely depicting the famed Italian Comedy theater, a hub for commedia dell'arte performances that delighted audiences with slapstick humor and improvisation. Created during the artist's lifetime (1724–1780), this before-first-state proof reveals Saint-Aubin's masterful observation of urban scenes, blending Rococo elegance with everyday bustle. The nocturnal setting, illuminated by moonlight and featuring men and women in period attire, evokes the theater's after-hours allure, a t...
About the Artist
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin · 1724–1780
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (1724–1780) was one of the most vivid and irrepressible graphic artists of eighteenth-century France, a tireless draughtsman whose sketchbooks and prints constitute an extraordinary visual chronicle of Parisian life during the Ancien Régime. Born into a family with strong connections to the decorative arts — his father was an embroiderer to the king — Saint-Aubin received fo...