Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 3/16 × 12 13/16 in. (25.9 × 32.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.2220
Tags
Art Historical Context
Abraham Bosse's *Sight*, created between 1635 and 1638 in Paris with the collaboration of engravers Melchiorier and François Langlo, is a captivating etching from the golden age of French printmaking. Measuring 10 3/16 × 12 13/16 inches, this work belongs to a traditional series allegorizing the five senses a popular motif in 17th-century European art that blended moral instruction with visual delight. Bosse, leading figure in the early Baroque period, was renowned for his precise etchings that elevated printmaking to a fine art, often drawing from everyday life while infusing symbolic depth. ...
About the Artist
Abraham Bosse|Melchior Tavernier and François Langlois, Paris · 1602–1676
Abraham Bosse (1604–1676) was a French printmaker and theorist whose approximately 1,600 etchings provide an unparalleled visual record of 17th-century French life. Born to Huguenot parents in Tours, he trained in Paris under Melchior Tavernier and became a devoted follower of Jacques Callot's technical innovations. Bosse's meticulous etchings depicted subjects ranging from daily life and fashion ...