Salomon Gessner
Medium
engraving over etching on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 16.7 x 12 cm (6 9/16 x 4 3/4 in.) sheet: 27.5 x 17.8 cm (10 13/16 x 7 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of John O'Brien
Accession Number
1987.70.14
Art Historical Context
This delicate engraving, titled *Salomon Gessner captures the likeness of the Swiss poet and Salomon Gessner (1730–1788), rendered in 1775 by the masterful French engraver Augustin de-Aubin after an original by Vivant Denon Produced during the late Enlightenment era, when portrait prints flourished as affordable ways to celebrate cultural figures, this small-scale work (plate: 16.7 x 12 cm) exemplifies the era's fascination with pastoral ideals and literary heroes. Gessner, famed for his idyllic poetry and landscapes evoking ancient Arcadia, found widespread admiration across Europe, making su...