Image

Pierre Daret

Virgin and Child

Description

Maker

Pierre Daret (French, ca. 1604-1678), designer
After Simon Vouet (French, 1590-1649), painter

Title

Virgin and Child

Year

1640

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

engraving

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 25.9 x 18.4 cm (10 3/16 x 7 1/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Original--Verso:in pencil, LL:10-2-69 A-18/ProutéIn Plate--Two-line latin inscription, LC:Quid cernis, Virgo, Puero... (see print for full inscription) ; on bottom left:Simon Voüet pinxit ; on bottom, center:cum priuilegio Regis 1640 ; on bottom, right:Petrus Daret sculpsit Paris.

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Works of Art Fund

Object Number

69.163

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line
Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Sep 18, 2009 – Jan 03, 2010

Label copy

Pierre Daret was a French engraver who worked briefly in Rome making engravings after the works of Simon Vouet. Daret’s hand was more conservative than that of his countryman Claude Mellan, exhibiting a firm but thin line and a sense of smoothness achieved by polished, regulated grids and contour lines. His style was appropriate for such tender subject matter as the Virgin and Child, by capturing the effect of strong light and its attendant spiritual power.

Related Publications

Related Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Use & Feedback

Image 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 and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Pierre Daret (French, ca. 1604-1678), designer
After Simon Vouet (French, 1590-1649), painter
Virgin and Child, 1640
Engraving
Plate: 25.9 x 18.4 cm (10 3/16 x 7 1/4 inches)
Museum Works of Art Fund 69.163

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.