An Allegory of Statuary or Lament of Sculpture
1629
Medium
Etching in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 32.5 × 53 cm (12 13/16 × 20 7/8 in.); Sheet: 35.3 × 53.2 cm (13 15/16 × 21 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
100263
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Pierre Biard the Younger, who had became enamored with Italian art after a visit to Rome, was appointed the court sculptor of Henri IV in 1609. This idiosyncratic etching includes text in both French and Italian, as well as a double self-portrait of the artist (as the two male figures on the right). The allegorical figure of Calumny reappears from the ancient lost painting of the Calumny of Apelles. By explicitly referencing a painting in a print about sculpture, Biard may be staging his own par...