Head of Flora
Artist
Louis-Marin Bonnet
(French, 1736–1793)
Artistafter
François Boucher
(French, 1703–1770)
Date1769
Mediumpastel manner etching and engraving
Dimensions40.6 x 32.4 cm (sheet)
ClassificationsPrints
MarkingsLettered impression, margins trimmed.
Credit LineMrs. Kingsmill Marrs Collection
Object number1925.149
DescriptionAfter a pastel by Francois BoucherLabel TextWhen Louis Marin Bonnet secretly devised a multiplate method to imitate pastels as prints, he first chose to reproduce François Boucher's portrait of his seventeen-year old daughter, Marie Émilie. This was Bonnet’s most ambitious and complex engraving, printed from eight plates in eleven colors. Bonnet never indicated how long he worked on the print, but it likely took many months, even years, as it included the invention of a new ink made from powdered petrified wood as well as a new way of using pins to register the paper for printing.ProvenanceBequest of Mrs. Kingsmill Marrs
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