Marie Antoinette
Medium
Graphic Arts-Print
Classification
Graphic Arts-Print
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly
Accession Number
1929.7.72
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the elegant bust portrait of *Marie Antoinette*, a graphic arts print by French artist François Bonneville. Captured in the medium of printmaking, this work exemplifies the precision and reproducibility of techniques like engraving or etching, which allowed portraits of royalty to circulate widely among admirers and collectors in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. Housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum as a gift from John Gellatly, it reflects the era's fascination with aristocratic elegance. Marie Antoinette, the iconic Queen of France, consort to Louis XVI, embodies the opulence a...