Fascicule I by Jean Claude Richard, Abbé de Saint-Non

Fascicule I 1763

jeanclauderichardabbedesaintnon

minneapolisinstituteofart

print, etching

toned paper

light pencil work

print

etching

pencil sketch

etching

coloured pencil

underpainting

france

watercolour bleed

watercolour illustration

pencil art

watercolor

"Fascicule I," a print from 1763 by Jean Claude Richard, Abbé de Saint-Non, is a detailed depiction of ancient Roman sculptures. The print features three distinct elements: a roundel showing a figure wrestling with a bull, a seated female figure flanked by lions, and a column base with a sphinxes. The composition utilizes strong lines and shading to create a sense of depth and texture, demonstrating the artist’s interest in the classical world. The print is a testament to Saint-Non’s fascination with ancient art and architecture and his passion for documenting them through detailed engravings.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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The Jean-Baptiste Claude Richard (also known by his title abbé Saint-Non) embodied the important role of the amateur, an patron and connoisseur of the arts as well as a practitioner in 18th-century France. He was a skilled networker, a curious, innovative printmaker, and he supported his artist friends in their projects and travels. Saint-Non executed this suite of prints in Paris in 1763, representing antique fragments and reliefs he saw during his travels in Italy from 1759 to 1761. Most of the monuments are identified in the inscriptions by their locations in Rome. The works reflect French artists’ fascination with antiquity at the time, and the way in which these sources were transmitted to a larger public through the circulation of prints. Remarkably the suite of etchings remain as originally issued, in three groups of six deckle-edged sheets stitched together simply along the top edge.