An etched off-white paper depicted with a European port scene. Small groups of men are along the bottom with tall, white buildings behind them on the left. The right side shows tall ships. There is script writing along the bottom edge.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A rectangular etched off-white paper depicted with a European port scene with black ink. The scene fills nearly the whole plate aside from a thin, blank band around the edges and thin, cursive writing at the bottom. In the middle of the writing is an emblem with seated figures on each side. Small groups of men are along the bottom shown in a variety of working attire and poses on an outstretched wharf. The men on the left sit on crates of goods, the men in the center stand near a man that's nearly on the ground, and the men on the right work on small boats. Behind them on the left are tall, white buildings with columns and straight walls. Behind on the right side shows tall ships that have their sails tied back.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
G2285
People
Jacques Philippe Le Bas, French (Paris 1707 - 1783 Paris)
After Claude Lorrain, French (Chamagne 1604 - 1682 Rome)
Title
The Old Port of Messina
Other Titles
Original Language Title: Ancien port de Messine
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
18th century
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/274223

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Engraving on cream, antique laid paper
Technique
Engraving
Dimensions
image: 43.8 × 60 cm (17 1/4 × 23 5/8 in.)
plate: 49.6 × 63.1 cm (19 1/2 × 24 13/16 in.)
sheet: 57.6 × 71.9 cm (22 11/16 × 28 5/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • watermark: center left edge: double-headed eagle with crown and partial countermark at right edge: [two lines of text] - see images in conservation file; possibly Heawood 1317

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Francis Calley Gray, bequest; to William Gray, his nephew, 1856, gift; to Havard University, 1857

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Le Blanc 396; And. 13

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of William Gray from the collection of Francis Calley Gray
Object Number
G2285
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • William McAllister Johnson, The Rise and Fall of the Fine Art Print in Eighteenth-Century France, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, 2016), repr. as fig. 7 [not Harvard impression, related bibliography]

Exhibition History

Related Objects

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu