The Etcher's Press - The Printmaker's Shop
1642
Medium
Etching on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Plate: 25.7 × 32.2 cm (10 1/8 × 12 11/16 in.); Sheet: 28.8 × 35.7 cm (11 3/8 × 14 1/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
76432
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling world of 17th-century French printmaking with Abraham Bosse's *The Etcher's Press - The Printmaker Shop* (1642), a masterful etching on ivory wove paper now housed in the Art Institute Chicago's Prints and Drawings. Measuring a modest plate size of 25.7 × 32.2 cm, this intricate scene captures the heart of an artist's workshop, where the massive etching press takes center stage amid tools, papers, and focused craftsmen. Bosse, a pioneering French etcher active during the reign of Louis XIII, was renowned for his detailed genre scenes and technical treatises that democra...
About the Artist
Abraham Bosse · 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 ...