Les Danaïdes, from ''Le Temple des Muses'' 1742

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Black and white etching on wire rod paper, representing the myth of the Danaids, ''condemned to fill bored vessels with … Read more Black and white etching on wire rod paper, representing the myth of the Danaids, ''condemned to fill bored vessels with water''. Plate with fresh impression, from the volume “Le Temple des Muses”, published in Amsterdam in 1742 by Zacharias Chatelain. Capture (under the image) and author inscribed: ''B. Picart del. 1730'' engraved under the frame, on the lower left margin. In very good conditions, except for a usual yellowing of the margins and a minor stain on the left margin. This was an illustrated book of Ovid's most popular fables published in 1733 in Dutch (Tempel der Zanggodinnen), in 1738 in English, and in 1742 in French by Zacharias Chatelain. The engravings had captions in four languages: French, English, German, and Dutch. The wonderful sixty plates engraved by Bernard Picart were a sort of fashionable mythological compendium, useful in the eighteenth century, when the fascination with Greek and Roman antiquity followed the systematic excavation of the ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum in southern Italy; and after 1750, the Neoclassical style dominated all artistic fields. Bernard Picart (Paris, 1673 – Amsterdam, 1733), French engraver, well-known for his book-illustrations, including the Bible and Ovid. His most famous work is Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde, appearing from 1723 to 1743 and was defined: ''an immense effort to record the religious rituals and beliefs of the world in all their diversity as objectively and authentically as possible'' by Jonathan I. Israel. Publisher: Amsterdam, Zacharias Chatelain Image Dimensions: 35.2 x 25.2 cm This artwork is shipped from Italy. Under existing legislation, any artwork in Italy created over 70 years ago by an artist who has died requires a licence for export regardless of the work’s market price. The shipping may require additional handling days to require the licence according to the final destination of the artwork. See less