Le Sculpteur dans son atelier (The Sculptor in his Studio)
Abraham Bosse, French, 1602 - 1676
about 1642
Etching on laid paper
Sheet: 10 1/8 × 12 5/8 in. (25.7 × 32 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Class of 1935 Memorial Fund, the Florence and Lansing Porter Moore 1937 Fund, and the Stephen and Constance Spahn "63 Acquisition Fund
2016.24.3
Geography
Place Made: France, Europe
Period
1600-1800
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, in plate, lower center: Voicy la representation d'un Sculpteur dans son Attelier / Les choses dont il forme ses ouurages sont diuerses, de diferente nature, et il y procede en diferentes facons, les dures Com[m]e la pierre et le bois il les faconne en ostant de la matiere auec le cizeau le maillet et au[tr]es outilz, et les molles Comme la Cire et largile, il les faconne en mettant de la matiere avec le poulce et lesbauchoir, fouuent il se fait un modelle de sa penseé com[m]e il en tient a la main et quapres il Coppie en une au[tr]e grandeur / fait aleau forte par ABosse [AB in ligature], a Paris en Lisle du palais, Ian 1642, auec Priuilege
Label
The inscription at the bottom of this print begins: “Here [is] the representation of a sculptor in his studio. The things that make up his works are diverse and different, and he works from different materials.” Facing a group of well-dressed patrons, the sculptor grasps a maquette, or model, as he stands before his nearly completed work. Despite his tidy attire, the chisel and mallet on the base imply that he has stopped in the midst of his work. The sculptor holds the model of his pensée (thought) out for consideration. He appears as a figure of ingenuity, worthy of the patrons’—as well as the viewer’s—admiration.
From the 2024 exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art, and Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections
Course History
ARTH 27.02, Living Stone: Sculpture in Early Modern Italy, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Winter 2022
History 42.01, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 22.01, Gender & European Society, Patrick Meehan, Spring 2024
History 96.39, Saints and Relics, Cecilia Gaposchkin, Spring 2024
Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Noemi Perego, Spring 2024
Italian 11.01, Intensive Italian, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024
Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024
Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Tania Convertini, Spring 2024
Italian 3.02, Introductory Italian III, Giorgio Alberti, Spring 2024
Exhibition History
Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, Citrin Family Gallery and Engles Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 23, 2024–March 22, 2025.
Provenance
Carolyn Bullard Fine Prints and Drawings, Dallas, Texas; sold to present collection, 2016.
Catalogue Raisonne
Blum 204; Duplessis 160.1386; Lothe 264.253
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