Spring
1864
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 18 1/2 in. × 13 in. (47 × 33 cm) Plate: 7 1/2 × 5 7/8 in. (19 × 15 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1927
Accession Number
27.10.31
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Spring** (1864) is a delicate etching by French artist Charles Jacque, a member of the Barbizon, known for his intimate depictions of rural life and animals. Created during the mid-19th century, when Realism was challenging academic art, Jacque captures the vitality of spring on the French countryside. This print, from the Metropolitan Museum of's Drawings and Prints collection, reflects the era's fascination with pastoral harmony amid France's industrial changes. Measuring a modest plate size of 7½ × 5⅞ inches, the etching showcases Jacque's mastery of the medium. Etching allowed for intri...
About the Artist
Charles Jacque
Charles-Émile Jacque (1813–1894) was a pioneering French painter, engraver, and illustrator whose career bridged the worlds of printmaking and pastoral painting. Born in Paris amid a difficult childhood, he apprenticed at age seventeen to a map engraver, mastering drypoint technique and producing his first etching in 1830—a copy of a head after Rembrandt. After serving seven years in the French Ar...