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Claude Mellan, printmaker

Death of Adonis, 1636 - 1662

Description

Maker

Title

Death of Adonis

Year

1636 - 1662

Medium

Engraving on laid paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 21.8 x 30.6 cm (8 9/16 x 12 1/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Recto: lettered on plate, Ll: 'Cl. Mellan Gall'. inven[it] et sc[ulpsit]'; in LR: 'cum privilegio'.

Verso: in pencil, LR: The death of Adonis/1st St. avant le dedication; in LL: 1801/ 6232 (6232 underlined)/ now (underlined); in brown ink, UL:F. Gacoet 1826; along bottom on left in pencil: 7

Identification

State

ii

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

46.351

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Visions and Revisions

February 15 - August 4, 2019

Distraught, Venus hurries to her dying lover, Adonis. He ignored her warnings about the dangers of the hunt and has been gored by a wild boar. In the background, cupids take vengeance on the animal.

This print of Mellan’s own design is a typical example of the artist’s unusual technique. Avoiding crosshatching almost entirely, he relied instead on the careful placement of parallel strokes. Tone, texture, and volume are conveyed by modulating the thickness and spacing of lines. Outlines and stippling are used sparingly. After studying in Rome Mellan became an established figure in the French school of engraving. Few artists, however, attempted to emulate his technique, which was perhaps too individualized to be easily taught.

The Brilliant Line

September 18, 2009 - January 3, 2010

After about 1630, Claude Mellan began to subtract from, rather than add to, his vocabulary of marks, reducing it almost exclusively to the swelling line, as evident in this engraving of his own invention. Expertly spaced at intervals with varying depths, the swelling line does all the work of creating volume and light without any cross-hatching. The edges of forms are defined by the termination of swelling lines running perpendicular to them. Mellan portrayed the approaching amorini in the background with the simplest pattern of parallel lines, merely suggesting the outlines of the bodies and allowing the viewer to reconcile the shapes.

Classically composed in reference to French painters like Nicolas Poussin, the engraving narrates how Venus, pierced by Cupid’s arrow and besotted with love for Adonis, finds him dead after being gored by a wild boar. The amorini in the background try to hunt down the boar after its fatal blow.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Death of Adonis with the accession number of 46.351. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.