The Feast of the Faun
n.d.
Medium
Etching, fifth state
Dimensions
sheet: 11 5/16 x 16 3/4 in. (28.8 x 42.6 cm) image: 8 5/16 x 14 in. (21.1 x 35.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1977
Accession Number
1977.588.4
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Claude Gillot’s “The Feast of the Faun” captures a lively mythological gathering through the delicate lines an etching. The scene features fauns mingling with female nudes amid musical instruments, evoking a playful celebration drawn from classical themes of revelry and nature. Rendered in the fifth state of the print, the work reveals the artist’s careful revisions, with refined details that heighten the sense of movement and texture. As an etching, this printmaking technique allowed Gillot to create intricate compositions that could be reproduced and shared widely, making such imaginative s...
About the Artist
Claude Gillot · 1673–1722
Artist known for his elegant designs done in the Rococo manner of Audran; also for his predilection for scenes from the 'comedia dell'arte.' Few paintings survive; his work is known mainly through drawings and etchings. Comment on works: Genre; History