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Nymph Riding on a Satyr's Back, from Bacchanales, or Satyrs' Games

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:

1763

Artist:

Jean Honoré Fragonard
French, 1732-1806

About this artwork

This set of four etchings may refer to ancient bas-reliefs Fragonard saw while visiting Rome with an important antiquarian, the Abbé de Saint Non (see 1926.453–55). Indeed, the artist’s design for Nymph Riding on a Satyr’s Back directly derives from a sculpture (now lost) that he saw in the Villa Mattei. The size of the paired oval and rectangular reliefs—one or more of which might derive from ancient engraved cameos instead of large-scale sculptures—remains ambiguous, although hidden objects in the surrounding foliage suggest a large scale. Regardless of their source, the popularity of Fragonard’s printed reliefs reflected the taste for Neoclassicism in France at this time.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Title

Nymph Riding on a Satyr's Back, from Bacchanales, or Satyrs' Games

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.

1763

Medium

Etching on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 13.5 × 20.3 cm (5 3/8 × 8 in.); Plate: 14.5 × 21 cm (5 3/4 × 8 5/16 in.); Sheet: 14.7 × 21 cm (5 13/16 × 8 5/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Print and Drawing Club

Reference Number

1926.456

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/28690/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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