Portrait of Alexis Piron
Medium
Etching and engraving; fifth state of five (Bocher)
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 3/4 × 6 9/16 in. (22.2 × 16.7 cm) Plate: 7 5/8 × 5 7/16 in. (19.4 × 13.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Joseph Verner Reed, 1949
Accession Number
49.125.208
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant etching and engraving, *Portrait of Alexis Piron (1776), captures the likeness of the celebrated French poet and playwright Alexis Piron (1689–1773), for his witty libertine verses and scandalous comedies that delighted Enlightenment audiences. Created posthumously by designers Charles Nicolas Cochin II master of Rococo ornament and Neoclassical precision—and engraver Augustin de Saint-Aubin it exemplifies the collaborative artistry of 18th-century French printmaking. Cochin's fluid lines and Saint-Aubin's meticulous burin work bring Piron's expressive face to life, evoking the in...
About the Artist
Augustin de Saint-Aubin|Charles Nicolas Cochin II|Augustin de Saint-Aubin · 1736–1807
Comment on works: Illustrator; Engraver