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Hermit Saint in the Desert
Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732-1806)
1752/56
- Medium
- Etching on ivory laid paper
- Classification
- Dimensions
- Image: 21.6 × 14.7 cm (8 9/16 × 5 13/16 in.); Plate: 23 × 15.7 cm (9 1/16 × 6 3/16 in.); Sheet: 25.4 × 25.7 cm (10 × 10 1/8 in.)
- Culture
- France
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Prints and Drawings
- Credit line
- John H. Wrenn Endowment
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
The sole Boucher composition to be etched by Fragonard, this work is known to survive in only seven proofs. Possibly depicting St. Onuphrius of Egypt, a hermit who lived around 400 A.D., Boucher's original drawing is now in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Since Fragonard made most of his twenty-four etchings during his voyages in Italy (1756-61 and 1773-74), this work is unusual for its early date and French inspiration.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
