The Parrot

Art Historical Context

**The Parrot**, a delicate etching created between 1620 and 1676 by French printmakers Abraham Bosse and I Leblond, captures a charming domestic scene featuring women, parrots, and chairs. Measuring 11¼ × 7⅝ inches, this intimate print exemplifies the collaborative spirit of 17th French printmaking, where Bosse—renowned for his precise reproductive etchings influenced by Jacques Callot—and Leblond combined their talents to produce accessible art for a growing collector class. Etching, the medium here, allowed artists unprecedented freedom with fluid lines and tonal effects, as acid etched designs into a metal plate. This technique democratized imagery, making high-society vignettes like elegant women with exotic parrots—symbols of wealth and curiosity from the New World—widely shareable. Parrots, fashionable pets among the French elite, added a touch of whimsy and exotic allure to everyday interiors. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department as part of The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, *The Parrot* reflects the era's fascination with genre scenes, bridging Baroque detail with emerging Rococo lightness. It invites visitors to ponder how such prints brought the opulence of 17th-century salons into modest homes.

About the Artist

Abraham Bosse|Jean I Leblond · 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 ...