Tethis 1772 - 1773

This is an engraving of Tethis by Antoine Alexandre Joseph Cardon. We don’t have an exact date for it but Cardon was active in France in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This was a time when artists and intellectuals looked to classical antiquity for inspiration. Here, the mythological figure of Tethis, a Titan goddess of the primal font of fresh water, is rendered in a classical style as a semi-nude woman. In the engraving, she reclines with water flowing from an urn, which could be a comment on the cultural and historical association of water with purity and life. She is also accompanied by an alligator and a fish-tailed creature. This could also be interpreted in the context of France at that time, where the study of natural history was on the rise and exotic animals were symbols of France’s global reach. The engraving technique itself, with its emphasis on line and clarity, also shows an institutional interest in precision. To understand it better, we might look at illustrated encyclopedias, travel narratives, and the records of scientific institutions. The meaning of art always depends on these kinds of specific historical contexts.