Portrait of Michel de Montaigne
Medium
Etching and engraving; fifth state of five (Bocher)
Dimensions
Mount: 18 1/8 × 13 7/16 in. (46 × 34.2 cm) Sheet: 11 3/16 × 8 7/8 in. (28.4 × 22.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
Accession Number
17.3.756-2250
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant etching and engraving captures the likeness of Michel de Montaigne, the renowned 16th French philosopher and essayist as rendered by Augustin de Saint-Aubin in 1774. Created more than two centuries after Montaigne’s death, the portrait reflects the Enlightenment-era fascination with his ideas on human nature, skepticism, and self-reflection. Saint-Aubin, a skilled French printmaker active in the 18th century, specialized in portraiture and book illustration, often translating painted or sculpted images into widely accessible prints. The work’s medium—etching combined with engravi...
About the Artist
Augustin de Saint-Aubin · 1736–1807
Comment on works: Illustrator; Engraver