Smell
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 1/8 × 12 13/16 in. (25.7 × 32.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.2217
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Smell**, a captivating etching created by French artist Abraham Bosse in collaboration with engraver and publisher Melchior Tavernier 1635 and 1638, invites viewers into the sensory world of 17th Europe. Measuring 10 1/8 × 12 13/16 inches, this print from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Elisha Whittelsey Collection features men, women, dogs, and emblems likely allegorizing the sense of smell through everyday scenes enriched with symbolic elements. Bosse, renowned for his precise reproductive and depictions of contemporary life, masterfully used etching—a technique involving acid-bitten lines ...
About the Artist
Abraham Bosse|Melchior Tavernier · 1602–1676
Abraham Bosse (1604–1676) was a French printmaker and theorist whose approximately 1,600 etchings provide an unparalleled visual record of 17th-century French life. Born to Huguenot parents in Tours, he trained in Paris under Melchior Tavernier and became a devoted follower of Jacques Callot's technical innovations. Bosse's meticulous etchings depicted subjects ranging from daily life and fashion ...