Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery

1879–80

Edgar Degas

(French, 1834–1917)

Culture

France, 19th century

Medium

softground etching, drypoint, aquatint, and etching

Support

Cream (3) laid paper

Measurements

Platemark: 26.7 x 23.2 cm (10 1/2 x 9 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

The Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund 1929.877

Catalogue raisonné

Reed & Shapiro 51

State

VI/IX (only known impression of this state)

Impression

unique

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Description

This print is one of two in which Edgar Degas depicted Mary Cassatt and her sister Lydia at the Musée du Louvre. In this iteration of the subject, Casatt gazes intently at an Etruscan tomb, about 500 BC, excavated at Cerveteri, the largest ancient necropolis in the Mediterranean. Cassatt is viewed from behind while the enigmatically smiling couple, lying on top of a sarcophagus and enclosed in a glass case, face the viewer. Cassatt confronts the sculpture directly while Lydia reads about it in a guidebook.