The Wise and Foolish Virgins, plate five
1635
Medium
Engraving and etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 21.8 × 32 cm (8 5/8 × 12 5/8 in.); Sheet: 42.2 × 32 cm (16 5/8 × 12 5/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
23553
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Abraham Bosse’s Wise and Foolish Virgins is a sincere evocation of the joys of domesticity. These dutiful and industrious women embody the wisdom of moderation by staying indoors while their wilder, foolish counterparts run amok outside. In the New Testament parable that Bosse updates, it is only the wise virgins who are invited to a wedding feast (and by implication, into heaven), while the foolish ones are left outside in the graceless cold.
About the Artist
Abraham Bosse · 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 ...