Fragonard and Bergeret with Their Wives Visiting a Tomb in Pompeii

1781

Claude-Mathieu Fessard after Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Associated Names
Claude-Mathieu Fessard

Artist, French, active 1765 - 1805

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Artist After, French, 1732 - 1806

This is a drawing of an underground scene featuring a skeleton and several observers. The drawing depicts an underground setting where a skeleton is lying on the ground in a dimly lit area. A group of observers gathers around, peering intently at the skeleton. The scene is lit by a beam of light coming in from a circular opening to the right. The surrounding architecture gives the impression of a dungeon or crypt, with stone walls and what appears to be a large stone bowl on a pedestal. The figures in the image display a range of expressions that suggest curiosity or surprise. The style is reminiscent of detailed etching work often found in classical illustrations.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching on laid paper [proof]

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ivan E. and Winifred Phillips in memory of Neil Phillips

  • Dimensions

    plate: 18.4 x 24.6 cm (7 1/4 x 9 11/16 in.)
    sheet: 24.6 x 30.5 cm (9 11/16 x 12 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1999.141.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    IFF (1700), no. 86, State proof

  • Series Title

    Voyage Pittoresque ou Description des Royaumes de Naples et de Sicile (Picturesque Journey or Description of the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily)

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Helmut H. Rumbler, Frankfurt am Main); purchased 1999 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2022

  • Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, 2022-2023, p. 16, fig.3, repro.

Bibliography

1930

  • Inventaire du Fonds Français, Graveurs du XIIIe siècle. Paris, 1930 - 1977.

2022

  • Kopp, Édouard, Rudy, Elizabeth, and Smentek, Kristel, editors.Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment. Exh. cat. Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 2022-2023: 16, fig. 3.

Inscriptions

none

Markings

none

Watermarks

unidentified circle

Wikidata ID

Q75426343

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