Book 4, Fable 7: Pandora
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 3 1/8 × 3 13/16 in. (8 × 9.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1962
Accession Number
62.602.1036(12)
Art Historical Context
This small etching and engraving from 1719 illustrates "Pandora," the seventh fable in Book of an edition of Jean La Fontaine’s celebratedables. Designed by Charlesoine Coypel, a leading French painter of the early Rococo period, and expertly engraved by Nicolas-Henry Tardieu, the print translates the ancient myth into the elegant, narrative style favored for deluxe book illustrations of the time. The diminutive scale—just over three inches high—indicates it was created to accompany the text directly, allowing readers to encounter both story and image in a single intimate format. Etching and...