Two Friezes with Playing Putti, from: L'Oeuvre de J. B. Huet (Premier Livre, Sixieme Cahier, pl. 34)
1780 or after
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
sheet: 2 1/2 x 13 9/16 in. (6.3 x 34.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.154
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the enchanting etching *Two Friezes with Playing Putti* (plate 34 from *L'Oeuvre de J. B. Huet*, Livre, Sixième Cah), Jean-Baptiste Huet captures the whimsical spirit of late 18th-century decorative art. Created around 1780 or later, this print features two horizontal friezes with frolicking putti—those plump, playful cherubic figures borrowed from classical antiquity. Huet, a master of the Rococo style with its love of elegance and lighthearted fantasy, renders these infants in dynamic poses, evoking the joy of pastoral idylls and ornate interior decorations popular among the French aristo...