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The Night, plate 1 from Paul et Virginie

A work made of etching and engraving printed in yellow, blue, red, and black inks on paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching and engraving printed in yellow, blue, red, and black inks on paper.

Date:

1795

Artist:

Charles-Melchior Descourtis (French, 1753-1820)
after Jean Frédéric Schall (French, 1752-1825)

About this artwork

Night falls as Paul and Virginie are returning from the plantation, and they stop, fatigued and hungry, with little hope of finding their way home. Suddenly, they hear the familiar barking of their dog Fidèle, and they see Domingue, one of the two enslaved people owned by their family, running anxiously toward them out of the woods. Domingue was sent to find the children by their concerned mothers, but on his way through the jungle he passed the plantation and learned of the fugitive woman’s dire fate.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Charles Melchior Descourtis

Title

The Night, plate 1 from Paul et Virginie

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1795

Medium

Etching and engraving printed in yellow, blue, red, and black inks on paper

Dimensions

Image: 37.5 × 41.2 cm (14 13/16 × 16 1/4 in.); Sheet, cut within platemark: 42 × 47 cm (16 9/16 × 18 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

The Joseph Brooks Fair Collection

Reference Number

1926.482

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/28766/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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