The Calydonian Boar Hunt, from the Houghton Gallery
1781
Medium
Mezzotint in black on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 46.8 × 85.6 cm (18 7/16 × 33 3/4 in.); Sheet, cut within platemark: 50.5 × 85.6 cm (19 15/16 × 33 3/4 in.)
Classification
mezzotint
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
76096
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Richard Earlom engraved several reproductive prints of paintings for an album celebrating Sir Robert Walpole’s art collection. As this dark, velvety proof impression demonstrates, Earlom’s self-taught mezzotint skills were particularly suited to translating the painterly qualities of Peter Paul Rubens’s art. Philip IV of Spain commissioned the mythological hunting scene on which this work is based as part of a series made by Rubens in 1639. The original painting was lost in 1734, while Walpole’s...
About the Artist
Richard Earlom · 1728–1794
Richard Earlom (1743–1822) stands as one of the supreme masters of mezzotint engraving in British art history, whose technical virtuosity and dedication to reproductive printmaking brought the works of Old Masters to unprecedented audiences. Born in London on May 14, 1743, Earlom spent his entire career transforming paintings and drawings into prints of extraordinary quality, elevating reproductiv...