Touch
Original title: Touch
kurzbeschreibung
Touch, personified in an etching and engraving by François Boucher, dates from between 1720 and 1770. Two figures in a landscape draw near to a small animal. Executed as an etching with engraving, the sheet interprets feeling as an allegorical motif.
Description
An older figure wearing a hat sits on the ground, holding a small animal between the hands; beside them stands a younger figure who also touches an animal. Plants and flowers frame the pictorial space. Both figures appear in traditional dress, grouped almost mirror-wise around the center of the sheet. Gray tones, thin lines and graduated shading define the print.
Context
Allegories of the senses were highly popular in the eighteenth century, and Boucher's work on this sheet falls within that period. As a leading Rococo painter, he was known for idyllic and gallant subjects. The engraving probably belongs to a series on the five senses. Prints of this kind were often made for collectors and lovers of art.
Impact
Balanced and quiet, the scene meets the viewer, sustained by the nearly symmetrical arrangement and the natural setting. The precise linework lends the print something delicate, almost tangible, that suits the theme of touch. Whoever looks at the sheet is encouraged to linger calmly before this intimate encounter.
Technique
Etching and engraving are combined here. This process allows the fine lines and exact shadings that emerge in the analysis of the image. The plate measures 36.2 × 27 cm; the motif was printed on paper.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)