The Four Seasons
mid to late 17th century
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Sheet (Roundel): 11 3/4 × 11 13/16 in. (29.8 × 30 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1957
Accession Number
57.569.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Abraham Bosse's *The Four Seasons*, created in the mid- to late 17th, is a captivating etching and engraving on a circular sheet measuring nearly 12 inches in diameter. French printmaker, active during the Baroque era, was renowned for his meticulous reproductive prints and innovative techniques, which he documented in influential treatises. The roundel format—uncommon for prints—lends a harmonious, mandala-like symmetry, inviting viewers to contemplate the cyclical nature of time. Personified by elegant female figures and overflowing cornucopias symbolizing abundance, the composition allegor...
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 ...