The Village Festival (Fête de village dans la campagne romaine)
ca. 1735–40
Medium
Etching; proof state
Dimensions
sheet: 12 9/16 x 16 15/16 in. (31.9 x 43.1 cm) plate: 12 1/16 x 16 9/16 in. (30.7 x 42 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.50.249
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre's *The Village Festival (ête de village dans la romaine)*, created around 1735–40, the joyful spirit of rural life in the Roman countryside. This lively etching depicts a festive gathering with men and women dancing amid houses, trees, and musicians playing instruments, evoking the Rococo era's delight in everyday pleasures and harmonious landscapes. Pierre, a prominent French painter and engraver who later directed the Académie de France in Rome, drew inspiration from such idyllic scenes, blending elegance with rustic charm. As an etching in proof state—an early im...