Adam and Eve
Pierre François Basan
1733 - 1797
Medium
etching
Dimensions
131; 173
About this artwork
height 173 mm x width 131 mm
Art Historical Context
Pierre François Basan’s *Adam and Eve* is a delicate etching created during the artist’s lifetime (1733–1797). As an eighteenth-century French printmaker and publisher, Basan specialized in reproductive prints that made celebrated compositions available to a wider audience. This small work, measuring just 173 by 131 millimeters, exemplifies the intimate scale often favored for etchings intended for private collectors and albums. Etching allowed Basan to achieve fine, expressive lines that capture the human form with clarity and subtlety. The technique, which involves drawing through an acid-r...