The School Mistress
ca. 1638
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 10 1/16 × 12 3/4 in. (25.5 × 32.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1926
Accession Number
26.49.54
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate etching *The School Mistress* (ca. 1638), French printmakers Abraham Bosse and Jean I Leblond a lively domestic classroom scene from 17th-century France. composition buzzes with activity: a school mistress instructs a group of attentive girls, surrounded by women and even a playful dog, all a cozy interior. Bosse, renowned for his meticulous etchings of everyday life, here to evoke the textures of ordinary moments—rumpled fabrics, wooden furniture, and soft light filtering through windows—offering a rare glimpse into girls' education during the Baroque era. Etching, Bosse's sp...
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 ...