Chloe

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

In this etching, Chloe, an alternate name for Demeter, Greek goddess of agriculture and fertility, reclines in a lush landscape complete with various figures, voluminous trees, a Greek temple, and a dramatic rockface. Less a narrative than a pastoral idyll, the scene evokes Romantic ideals circulating in Germany at the time that cast the relationship between humans and nature as one of direct, sometimes spiritual, experience. Carl Wilhelm Kolbe’s expert etching technique allows for both sweeping views and minute detail in one composition. This work was printed on a chine collé (or appliqué), a sheet of translucent paper that has a slight sheen, affording a precious quality to the print.