Allegory of Surgery
Medium
Etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 19.7 × 14.3 cm (7 13/16 × 5 11/16 in.); Sheet: 21 × 16 cm (8 5/16 × 6 5/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
141486
Art Historical Context
In 1741, artist Charles-Nicolas Cochin the younger produced *Allegory of Surgery*, an etching on ivory laid paper now preserved in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints and Drawings collection. Measuring just under 20 by 15 centimeters, the print demonstrates the precision of etching, a technique that uses acid to incise fine lines into a metal plate, allowing for delicate textures and subtle tonal variations that could be reproduced for wide circulation. Created during the Enlightenment, when medical knowledge was rapidly evolving, the work uses symbolic figures to personify surgery and its ...