Study for the Vignette-Frontispiece of Lucretius's "De la Nature des Choses", Book III
c. 1768
Medium
Pen and black ink, over black chalk and traces of graphite, on gray laid paper, incised for transfer and perimeter mounted on cream laid paper
Dimensions
14.3 × 8.7 cm (5 11/16 × 3 7/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
113598
About the Artist
Hubert François Gravelot
Hubert-François Bourguignon, known as Gravelot (1699–1773), was a leading French Rococo engraver, illustrator, and designer whose elegant draftsmanship bridged the artistic worlds of France and England. Born in Paris to a tailor, he adopted his pseudonym from a godfather and grew up alongside his elder brother, the geographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville. After neglecting studies at the Col...