Nymph Sitting on the Hands of Two Satyrs from Bacchanales, or Satyrs' Games
Medium
Etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 13.2 × 19.8 cm (5 1/4 × 7 13/16 in.); Sheet: 13.4 × 20.1 cm (5 5/16 × 7 15/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
28687
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This set of four etchings may refer to ancient bas-reliefs Fragonard saw while visiting Rome with an important antiquarian, the Abbé de Saint Non (see 1926.453, .454, and .456). The size of the paired oval and rectangular reliefs—one or more of which might derive from ancient engraved cameos instead of large-scale sculptures—remains ambiguous, although hidden objects in the surrounding foliage suggest a large scale. Regardless of their source, the popularity of Fragonard’s printed reliefs reflec...
About the Artist
Jean Honoré Fragonard · 1732–1806
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. Born in Grasse, he moved to Paris where he trained under Jean-Baptiste Chardin and François Boucher, winning the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1752. After studying in Italy alongside Hubert Robert, Fragonard returned to Paris in 1761 to fi...