La Matrone d'Ephese, from "Contes et nouvelles en vers par Jean de La Fontaine. A Paris, de l'imprimerie de P. Didot, l'an III de la République, 1795"

Art Historical Context

This etching and engraving, titled *La Matrone d'Ephèse*, illustrates a tale from Jean de La Fontaine’s *Contes et nouvelles en vers*, a celebrated collection of witty and often irreverent stories first published in the seventeenth century. The scene draws from the ancient fable of the widow of Ephesus, who, while grieving beside her husband’s tomb, ultimately finds solace in the arms of a passing soldier. Created for the 1795 edition printed by P. Didot during the French Revolution’s Year III, the print captures the story’s blend of sorrow and unexpected desire. Jean Honoré Fragonard supplied the lively design, while Jean-Louis Delignon translated it into etching and engraving. Fragonard’s Rococo sensibility—known for its graceful figures and playful narratives—infuses the composition with emotional nuance, even as the medium’s fine lines and tonal contrasts heighten the dramatic tension between mourning and awakening passion. As the second state of three, this impression reflects the careful refinement typical of high-quality book illustration in late eighteenth-century France. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Drawings and Prints, the work exemplifies how La Fontaine’s enduring tales continued to inspire artists amid social upheaval. Its intimate scale and expressive detail invite viewers to reflect on the timeless complexities of love, loss, and human nature.

About the Artist

Jean de La Fontaine|Jean Honoré Fragonard|Jean-Louis Delignon (French|French|French) · 1621 |1750 | –1695 |1780 |

French, Château-Thierry 1621–1695 Paris|active ca. 1750 (?)–1780|Paris