Portrait of Alexis Piron
Medium
Etching and engraving; fifth state of five (Bocher)
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 3/4 × 6 9/16 in. (22.2 × 16.7 cm) Plate: 7 5/8 × 5 7/16 in. (19.4 × 13.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Joseph Verner Reed, 1949
Accession Number
49.125.208
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant etching and engraving, *Portrait of Alexis Piron (1776), captures the likeness of the celebrated French poet and playwright Alexis Piron (1689–1773), for his witty libertine verses and scandalous comedies that delighted Enlightenment audiences. Created posthumously by designers Charles Nicolas Cochin II master of Rococo ornament and Neoclassical precision—and engraver Augustin de Saint-Aubin it exemplifies the collaborative artistry of 18th-century French printmaking. Cochin's fluid lines and Saint-Aubin's meticulous burin work bring Piron's expressive face to life, evoking the intellectual vibrancy of pre-Revolutionary Paris. As the fifth and final state of five (per the Bocher catalogue), this print reflects the iterative refinement typical of the era, where artists proofed multiple versions to perfect tone and detail. Etching allowed spontaneous, painterly effects, while engraving added crisp definition, making such portraits affordable luxury items for collectors. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of Joseph Verner Reed, 1949), it highlights how prints democratized fame, immortalizing cultural icons like Piron amid France's shifting artistic tides from Rococo elegance to neoclassical restraint. (198 words)
About the Artist
Augustin de Saint-Aubin|Charles Nicolas Cochin II|Augustin de Saint-Aubin · 1736–1807
Comment on works: Illustrator; Engraver