Cleveland Museum of Art

Andromeda (Andromède)

François Boucher

Date

1734

Medium

Etching

Culture

France, 18th century

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Late in life Boucher became Louis XV’s premier painter, but he began his career working as an etcher, tasked with reproducing drawings by other artists. Boucher’s effortless etching style is a testament to his excellent draftsmanship, a skill that served him well not only as a painter but as a designer of tapestries, ceramic figurines, and other decorative goods. Here, in one of his own compositions, Boucher portrays the climax of the Greek myth when Perseus swoops in to rescue the princess Andromeda, who was chained to a rock cliff as a sacrifice to the sea monster Cetus.

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