The Wise Virgins Conversing
ca. 1635
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 9 in. × 12 13/16 in. (22.8 × 32.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925
Accession Number
25.2.41
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the heart of 17th-century France, Abraham Bosse captures a moment of quiet devotion in *The Wise Virgins Conversing* (ca. 1635), an etching that draws from the New Testament parable of the Tengins (Matthew 25 Here, the five wise vir—symbols of spiritual preparedness—engage in intimate conversation, likely pondering scripture, with a prominent cross underscoring the scene's religious fervor. Bosse, a master printmaker and theorist, reflects the era's Catholic piety amid the Counter-Reformation, blending moral allegory with everyday human interaction. Rendered in etching—a technique Bosse he...
About the Artist
Abraham Bosse · 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 ...