The Parrot
1620–76
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
sheet: 11 1/4 x 7 5/8 in. (28.5 x 19.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.2288
Tags
Art Historical Context
**The Parrot**, a delicate etching created between 1620 and 1676 by French printmakers Abraham Bosse and I Leblond, captures a charming domestic scene featuring women, parrots, and chairs. Measuring 11¼ × 7⅝ inches, this intimate print exemplifies the collaborative spirit of 17th French printmaking, where Bosse—renowned for his precise reproductive etchings influenced by Jacques Callot—and Leblond combined their talents to produce accessible art for a growing collector class. Etching, the medium here, allowed artists unprecedented freedom with fluid lines and tonal effects, as acid etched des...
About the Artist
Abraham Bosse|Jean I Leblond · 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 ...