Two Sleeping Children With Three Sheep
18th century
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 12 in. × 17 13/16 in. (30.5 × 45.3 cm) Plate: 9 1/4 × 12 3/8 in. (23.5 × 31.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1957
Accession Number
57.559.44
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the serene etching and engraving *Two Sleeping Children With Three*, created in the 18th century by engraver Pierre Alexandre Avel after designs by the celebrated Rococo master François Boucher, visitors encounter a tender pastoral idyll. Measuring about 12 by 18 inches on its sheet, this print captures two peacefully slumbering children nestled among three gentle sheep, evoking a sense of innocence and harmony with nature. Boucher's influence shines through in the soft, playful curves and delicate shading, hallmarks of the Rococo style that flourished in mid-18th-century France under arist...