Les Baigneurs (The Bathers), from Paysages Gravés pour Jean de Médicis appelées aussi Paysages Dessinés a Florence, Vues de Florence, Paysages d'Italie, et Paysages Définitifs (Landscapes Engraved for Giovanni de'Medici, Landscapes Designed in Florence, Views of Florence, Landscapes of Italy, and Definitive Landscapes)
Medium
Etching; second state of three (Lieure)
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 7/16 x 9 5/8 in. (11.3 x 24.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Edwin De T. Bechtel, 1957
Accession Number
57.650.369(3)
Art Historical Context
"Les Baigneurs (The Bathers)" is a delicate etching from around 1618, part of a celebrated series known variously as *Paysages Gravés Jean de Médicis (Landscapes Engraved Giovanni de' Medici), *Paysages Dessinés à Florence*, and other titles evoking Italian vistas. Master etcher Jacques Callot, for his intricate landscapes during his time in Florence, created these works under the patronage of Don Giovanni' Medici, a prominent Medici prince and art enthusiast. Published by Israël Henriet, this print captures the leisurely scene of bathers amid lush, idealized Italian scenery, reflecting the er...
About the Artist
Israël Henriet|Jacques Callot|Don Giovanni de' Medici · 1585–1661
Israël Henriet (c. 1590–1661) stands as one of the most important figures in 17th-century French printmaking, not only as an accomplished engraver in his own right but as the principal publisher and preserver of Jacques Callot's extraordinary legacy. Born in Nancy, Lorraine, around 1590, Henriet belonged to an artistic family and grew up as a childhood friend of Callot, the preeminent printmaker o...