Portrait of Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt (1762−1817)
Medium
Etching and aquatint
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 2 3/8 × 2 3/8 in. (6 × 6 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Edward Bement, 1924
Accession Number
24.80.227
Art Historical Context
This intimate etching and aquatint, *Portrait of Anne-Josèphe Théroigne dericourt* (1762–1817), captures the fiery spirit of a legendary figure from the French Revolution. Created 1793 by engravers Gilles Louis Chrét and Jean Fouquet, work measures just 2⅜ × 2⅜ inches—small enough to fit in a pocket or paste into a revolutionary pamphlet. As ephemera from the Prints and Drawings department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it reflects the era's craze for affordable, reproducible portraits that democratized fame. Théroigne de Méricourt, a singer and ardent Jacobin activist, became an icon of ...