Study for Vignette-Frontispiece of Colle's "La Partie de Chasse de Henri IV", Act III
c. 1766
Medium
Pen and black ink, with graphite, on gray laid paper, incised for transfer and perimeter mounted on cream laid paper
Dimensions
13.6 × 7.7 cm (5 3/8 × 3 1/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
113555
Art Historical Context
Hubert François Gravelot's *Study for Vignette-ispiece of Colle's "La Partie Chasse de Henri IV Act III* (c. 1766 is a exquisite preparatory drawing that captures the elegance of 18th-century French. Created as a design for a small decorative vignette at the front of a theatrical publication—likely depicting a scene from Charles Collé comedy celebrating King Henry IV's famous hunting parties—this work reflects the lively cultural scene of the Enlightenment, where theater and visual arts intertwined to entertain and educate audiences. Executed in pen and black ink with graphite on gray laid pa...
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...