# Reading

- By: Pierre Paul Prud'hon (French, 1758-1823)
- Date: 1822
- Medium: Lithograph on off-white wove paper
- Classification: Print
- Dimensions: Image: 18.5 × 14.8 cm (7 5/16 × 5 7/8 in.); Sheet: 26.5 × 21.8 cm (10 7/16 × 8 5/8 in.)
- Culture: France
- Credit line: John H. Wrenn Memorial Fund
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/103890)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/acd58e9dffb244fd2a6c5d9a5a702b44.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Many artists viewed lithography as a tool that would allow them to reproduce paintings and spread their fame. In contrast, Pierre-Paul Prud’hon was an artist who created prints as unique works of art. Working in the period following the French Revolution, his embrace of sensual and classical allegorical figures was initially at odds with the prevailing patriotic and military mood in France. However, the escapist quality of his prints soon gained popularity and fame.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0