Index Magazine

Art Talk: One Print—Five Stories

October 6, 2020
Index Magazine

Art Talk: One Print—Five Stories

In this detail of a black-and-white print, a young man wearing a large, hooded cloak holds a nude woman in his arms. The woman’s eyes are closed. He bends his head down to kiss her lower neck. He has short, dark-colored hair, and she has long, blond hair. A moon hangs low in the sky beyond the horizon line on the right, and it is partially covered with clouds. To the left of the couple, there is billowing smoke.
Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, French (design and etching), and Barthélemy Joseph Fulcran Roger, French (engraving), Phrosine and Mélidore (detail), 1797. Etching and engraving. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund and the Jakob Rosenberg Fund, G9063.

Prints tell so many stories, from all the materials that went into their creation to the numerous artists involved in their production. In this talk, curator Elizabeth Rudy explores five stories within one print, a 1797 book illustration by French artists Pierre-Paul Prud’hon and Barthélemy Roger.

This video is part of our Art Talks series, in which our team of curators, conservators, fellows, and graduate students share short, informal videos that offer an up-close look at works from the collections. 

Speaker:
Elizabeth Rudy, Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Associate Curator of Prints, Division of European and American Art

Work discussed:
Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, French (design and etching), and Barthélemy Joseph Fulcran Roger, French (engraving), Phrosine and Mélidore, 1797. Etching and engraving. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund and the Jakob Rosenberg Fund, G9063.

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