The Manger (La creche)
1826 to 1850
Medium
etching in green touched with green wash
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of George Matthew Adams in memory of his mother, Lydia Havens Adams
Accession Number
1954.15.48
Art Historical Context
**The Manger (La Crèche)** by Alphonse Leg invites visitors into a tender nativity scene, captured through the delicate art of etching in green ink, lightly touched with green wash. between 1826 and1850, this print 19th-century printmaking intimacy, where fine lines etched into a metal plate hold ink to convey subtle textures and atmospheres. The unusual green monochrome adds a serene, almost ethereal glow, evoking the quiet reverence of the holy manger amid humble surroundings. Legros, a French-born artist renowned for his realist etchings influenced by Rembrandt, masterfully balanced light ...
About the Artist
Alphonse Legros · 1837–1911
Alphonse Legros (1837–1911) was born in Dijon, France, and trained in Paris at the drawing school of Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran, whose unconventional teaching method — which emphasised memory drawing and acute observation over academic convention — would leave a lasting mark on Legros's practice. At Lecoq's school he formed friendships with Jules Dalou and Auguste Rodin that endured throughout hi...