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The Armoire

A work made of etching on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching on ivory laid paper.

Date:

1778

Artist:

Jean Honoré Fragonard
French, 1732-1806

About this artwork

The Rococo taste for narrative led the great painter and printmaker Jean-Honoré Fragonard to devote his largest etching to a risqué domestic drama. A young woman and her paramour have been interrupted in a compromising position by her parents. The rumpled state of the bedclothes alone would have roused their ire, but they have also discovered the young man hiding in their daughter’s closet. The mortified young man’s strategically positioned hat leaves both the parents and viewers in little doubt of his dishonorable intentions. The girl stands barefoot and weeping in the corner out of modesty and fear, unable to meet her furious parents’ gaze.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Title

The Armoire

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.

1778

Medium

Etching on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 34.2 × 46.1 cm (13 1/2 × 18 3/16 in.); Plate: 42 × 55.2 cm (16 9/16 × 21 3/4 in.); Sheet: 49.3 × 65.2 cm (19 7/16 × 25 11/16 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Woods Fund

Reference Number

1985.41

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/103888/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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