The Philosopher
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 14 9/16 × 9 7/8 in. (37 × 25.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.600.532
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean Siméon Chardin, master of 18th-century French Roc painting renowned for his intimate genre scenes and still lifes, originally created *The Philosopher* around 1744. This, skillfully executed by Bernard Lepici, reproduces Chardin's composition, capturing a contemplative man deeply engrossed in reading—evoking the archetype of the introspective scholar. The work's tags highlight themes of men and reading, reflecting the Enlightenment-era fascination with knowledge and quiet intellectual pursuit amid everyday life. As a print medium, this engraving (measuring 14 9/16 × 9 7/8 inches) played ...
About the Artist
Jean Siméon Chardin|Bernard Lepicié|Bernard Lepicié · 1699–1779
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, born on November 2, 1699, in Paris to a cabinetmaker father who crafted billiard tables, grew up immersed in the city's artisan world on the Left Bank near Saint-Sulpice. His early training came through apprenticeships with the history painters Pierre-Jacques Cazes, where he honed academic drawing techniques, and Noël-Nicolas Coypel, whose assignment to copy a musket ...