Medium
Mezzotint
Dimensions
19 x 23 in. (48.3 x 58.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Edward W. Root, Elihu Root Jr. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant III, 1937
Accession Number
37.17.33
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 18th century, fascination with the natural world fueled exquisite depictions of exotic animals, and *A Tyger* (1790) captures this masterfully. Created as a mezzotint print a design by painter James Northcote—a prominent portraitist and animal specialist known for his dramatic realism—the work was engraved by John Murphy and published the influential Boydell brothers, John and Josiah. These publishers championed British art through lavish print series, making high-quality reproductions accessible to collectors and sparking a boom in animal portraiture. Mezzotint, the chosen medium...