Time Rewarding Work and Punishing Laziness
16th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 4 3/16 × 5 13/16 in. (10.7 × 14.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
A. Hyatt Mayor Purchase Fund, Marjorie Phelps Starr Bequest, 1986
Accession Number
1986.1131
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the 16th century, French engraver Robert Boissard crafted *Time Rewarding Work andishing Laziness*, a allegorical print that embodies Renaissance moralism. This engraving depicts the personification of Time—likely as the winged Father Time—bestowing favors on industrious men while chastising the idle, reflecting the era's emphasis on virtue,, and the Protestant work ethic amid Europe's social upheavals. Such themes drew from classical antiquity and emblem books, popular for teaching life's lessons through vivid imagery. As an engraving, the work showcases Boissard's mastery of intaglio tec...
About the Artist
Robert Boissard · 1586–1691
Robert Boissard (c. 1570–after 1630) was a French engraver and draughtsman whose work exemplifies the transition from late Renaissance to early Baroque printmaking in France. Born around 1570 in Valence, Boissard belonged to an artistic family and was a relative of the distinguished scholar and artist Jean-Jacques Boissard (1528–1602), whose monumental biographical and archaeological publications ...