Frontispiece for Book of Cartouches
Original title: Frontispiece for Book of Cartouches
kurzbeschreibung
Johann Georg Hertel made this frontispiece around the middle of the eighteenth century as an etching and engraving. A monumental seated figure, accompanied by a second figure standing beside her, anchors a strictly symmetrical layout before an architectural backdrop.
Description
Antique-style drapery wraps the large figure who dominates the middle of the sheet, with a companion figure set on a column at her side. A building rises behind them, topped by a greatly enlarged stylized palm frond. Below lies a fountain ringed with flowers and scrolling foliage. A vase emitting rays floats above the whole group, emerging from a cloud. Everything is held in black and white, drawn with precise lines and finely detailed shading.
Context
The print served as the title page to a book of cartouches designed by Francis Boucher and engraved by Hertel. It is a reverse copy, that is, a counterproof image of an earlier work engraved in mirror image. Pattern books of ornament of this kind circulated widely in the eighteenth century and supplied craftsmen and decorators with models.
Impact
Symmetry and oversized figures give the sheet a ceremonial, almost theatrical presence. Crisp linework and strong contrasts of light and shadow produce a clear, elegant appearance that answers the baroque taste of the period.
Technique
Hertel worked the plate in etching and engraving: lines were cut into a metal plate and then printed. In a reverse copy the engraving runs opposite to the original, so the design appears mirrored. The trimmed sheet measures 29.9 × 20 cm.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)