Les Caresses Dangereuses
Original title: Dangerous Caresses
kurzbeschreibung
Joseph de Longueil's print Gefährliche Zärtlichkeiten, published under the French title Les Caresses Dangereuses, presents a woman who clasps a cat's pelt while gently stroking a live cat. The image was executed as an etching and engraving on paper and measures 27.7 by 20.6 cm; the year of production has not come down to us.
Description
A woman in heavy, folded garments holds a catskin in her hands and touches a cat seated at her feet. Curtains and books suggest an interior setting. Etching combined with engraving yields finely graded lines that bring out the texture of fur and the creases of cloth. Beneath the image runs a poem addressing the cat as "belle Irie" and calling her "sad" paw "un mauvais tour".
Context
The Frenchman Joseph de Longueil worked in the eighteenth century as a copperplate engraver, known above all for reproductive prints. This sheet probably belongs to the circle of the Rococo, an age that valued allegorical and sentimental images of animals and people together. No exact date is documented, which is common for prints of this kind.
Impact
The woman's tender gesture and a title that announces danger produce an intimate atmosphere charged with tension. The differentiated linework and soft shading lend the sheet an elegant, faintly melancholy note.
Technique
Etching and engraving complement each other here, giving fine, precise lines and nuanced shadows. The method allows a detailed rendering of fabric, fur and facial features, as was characteristic of eighteenth-century printmaking.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)