Reigning glory: 18th century Franch engraving

One of the most innovative epochs in the history of printmaking--from the extravagances of the royal court to the beginning of the French Revolution--is celebrated in the exhibition "To Instruct and Delight: Prints and Illustrated Books in 18th-Century France." More than 100 prints and a dozen illustrated books reflect the dramatic changes that occurred during the reigns of King Louis XV and Louis XVI (1723-92), beginning with a sumptuous representation of the stately masked bali at Versailles where Louis XV met his future mistress and proceeding to an image of a doomed Louis XVI at the guillotine.

Original etchings, anatomical illustrations, poetry vignettes, fashion plates, and architectural views attest to the crucial role played by the dissemination of French thought during a period of increasing literacy when Paris held sway as the cultural capital of Europe.

"The prints ... afford the modern viewer a wonderful understanding of life in 18th-century France and the important role played by artists and printmakers in defining and promoting French culture," says Rena Hoisington, curator of the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Philadelphia (Pa.) Museum of Art. "This is also an occasion to celebrate the stupendous technical accomplishments in color printmaking made by such expert engravers as Charles-Melchior Descourtis, Louis-Matin Bonnet, and their contemporaries."

The prints capture the ebullient wit and spirit of France during the Age of Enlightenment, beginning with the elegant courtiers of Jean-Antoine Watteau, who won a lasting reputation as the undisputed master of the fete galante (scenes of elegant men and women engaged in music-making, dancing, and intimate conversation in idyllic outdoor settings). A set of 650 engravings reproduced his entire output of paintings and drawings.

Among the scores of printmakers working on this vast project was Francois Boucher, the future "First Painter" to King Louis XV and the favorite artist of Madame de Pompadour, the King's mistress. Boucher and his younger colleague Jean-Honore Fragonard produced a handful of charming original etchings, but like other successful artists, they generally relied upon highly skilled professional engravers to replicate their works in black and white or full color.

The prints demonstrate the centrality of drawing to academic practice. Sculptors, painters, and printmakers alike were expected to develop their skills of draftsmanship over the course of several years, first by copying drawings, then by learning how to create the illusion of three-dimensional objects by working from piaster casts of renowned sculptures, and finally by drawing from nude male models. Because the human figure was considered the basis for the greatest works of art, the Royal Academy regarded drawing from the nude the most important skill for an artist to master.

Single prints and book plate illustrations avidly were collected by a society eager to be informed about the most recent archeolegical discoveries, as well as the latest changes in couture fashion.

During the second half of the century, technological advances allowed printmakers to layer color images with multiple plates inked in different hues, using special tools to replicate the visual effects of powdery chalks and pastels. Among the notable works that are on view are a rare proof of "Sea Nymphs and Sea Gods" (c. 1762), a chalk-manner engraving of a group of nudes by Gilles Demarteau the Elder, fashioned after a delectable red chalk drawing by Boucher; "La Noce de Village (The Village Wedding)," "La Foire de Village (The Village Fair)," "La Rixe (The Brawl)," and "Le Tambourin (The Drummer)" (1785-c. 1795), a set of four ravishing color prints engraved by Descourtis after paintings by Nicolas-Antoine Taunay; and one of the glories of late-18th-century French color printmaking, "La Promenade Publique (The Public Promenade)" (1792) designed and engraved by Philibert-Louis Debucourt.

An astonishing impression of the "Head of Flora" (1769), Bonnet's eight-plate, pastel-manner engraving printed in 11 colors, reproduces a Boucher pastel. Never before nor after did a contemporary rival succeed in making a print using so many plates. This choice impression bears the collector's stamp of Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, the two brothers jointly credited with the revival of interest and culture of the ancien regime during the later 19th century.

"Prints and Illustrated Books in 18th-Century France" is on view through May 16 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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