Portrait of Joseph-Louise Gay Lussac
1822
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 14 3/16 x 10 9/16 in. (36 x 26.9 cm) Image: 5 7/8 × 7 3/16 in. (15 × 18.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Paul F. Walter, in memory of Christopher Hemphill, 1987
Accession Number
1987.1183.80
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1822 lith by Jules Boilly presents a portrait of Joseph Gay-Lussac in compact format that highlights artist’s skill with the relatively new medium lithography. The image, measuring just under six by inches, sits on a sheet, allowing for both intimate viewing and practical handling. Lithography, which had gained popularity in the early nineteenth century, enabled to achieve fine tonal gradations and crisp lines producing multiple impressions, making portraits like this one more widely available than traditional engravings or paintings. Boilly worked during a period when printmaking played...