Seal Engraving, from Encyclopédie
1762/77
Medium
Engraving on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 31.5 × 20 cm (12 7/16 × 7 7/8 in.); Plate: 35.5 × 22.5 cm (14 × 8 7/8 in.); Sheet: 39 × 25.5 cm (15 3/8 × 10 1/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
148200
Art Historical Context
This delicate engraving, titled *Seal Engraving* by A. J. Defehrt, hails from the groundbreaking *Encyclopédie*, the 18th-century masterpiece edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. Produced between 1762 and 1777 amid the Enlightenment's fervor for reason and knowledge, it captures the precise artistry of a seal—likely a tool or emblem central to trade, authentication, or craftsmanship. As one of thousands of illustrations in this 28-volume compendium, it exemplifies how prints democratized technical expertise, bridging artisans and intellectuals across Europe. Crafted as an etch...
About the Artist
A. J. Defehrt · 1708–1779
A. J. Defehrt (1723–1779) was a French draftsman, painter, and engraver whose career is best defined by his substantial contributions to one of the most ambitious publishing projects of the European Enlightenment: the illustrated plates of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert's Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. This monumental project, which aimed t...