The Mousetrap
Claude Mellan · c. 1654 · Art Institute of Chicago
Guide
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From the museum
Mellan never completed this secular engraving, and he may not have intended to publish or distribute it widely. The work is a surprisingly sensual departure for an artist who engraved hundreds of religious subjects and portraits, but it maintains his sinuous, supple line. The stark nudity of the Venus-like central figure, taken from an unfinished plate with substantial areas of blank space, enhances the print’s abstraction.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Details
- Maker
- Claude Mellan, French, 1598-1688
- Date
- c. 1654
- Medium
- Engraving and drypoint in black on ivory laid paper
- Dimensions
- Image/plate: 22.7 × 30.9 cm (8 15/16 × 12 3/16 in.); Sheet: 23.4 × 31.4 cm (9 1/4 × 12 3/8 in.)
- Place of origin
- France
- Held by
- Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · Not on view
- Credit line
- The Amanda S. Johnson and Marion J. Livingston Fund
Image: Art Institute of Chicago, CC0
