The Well

Art Historical Context

**The Well**, a delicate etching from 1845, showcases the collaborative talents of French artists Charles Jacque and Auguste Delâtre. Jacque, known for his pastoral scenes, likely designed the composition, while Delâtre, a skilled printer, brought it to life through meticulous etching techniques. Measuring just 3 3/8 × 4 15/16 inches on the plate, this intimate print captures a simple rural moment—a well with buckets—evoking the everyday life of 19th-century French countryside. Etching, an intaglio process where acid etches lines into a metal plate, allowed for rich tonal contrasts and fine details, making it ideal for Jacque's realistic depictions of nature and labor. Produced amid the rise of Realism, the work reflects growing artistic interest in unidealized rural subjects, bridging Romanticism and the Barbizon school's focus on plein-air observation. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of William Loring Andrews, 1883), *The Well* invites visitors to appreciate the artistry in the ordinary. Its small scale belies its charm, offering a window into mid-19th-century life through precise lines and subtle textures.

About the Artist

Charles Jacque|Auguste Delâtre · 1813–1894

Charles-Émile Jacque (1813–1894) was a pioneering French painter, engraver, and illustrator whose career bridged the worlds of printmaking and pastoral painting. Born in Paris amid a difficult childhood, he apprenticed at age seventeen to a map engraver, mastering drypoint technique and producing his first etching in 1830—a copy of a head after Rembrandt. After serving seven years in the French Ar...