Artwork Page for Tomb with Sphinxes and an Owl

Details / Information for Tomb with Sphinxes and an Owl

Tomb with Sphinxes and an Owl

c. 1779–84

Louis Jean Desprez

(French, 1743–1804)
Culture
France, 18th century
Medium
aquatint with etching
Measurements
Platemark: 34 x 48.7 cm (13 3/8 x 19 3/16 in.); Sheet: 35 x 50.3 cm (13 3/4 x 19 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Severance and Greta Millikin Trust 2018.207
Catalogue raisonné
Wollin 28
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

The growing popularity of Egypt in the late 18th century, bolstered by Napoleon Bonaparte’s ultimately failed attempt to colonize the country, ensured a ready market for the subject of Louis Jean Desprez's print.

Description

Originally trained as an architect, Louis Jean Desprez produced this print depicting a tomb while living in Rome. He combined details observed while visiting catacombs in southern Italy with macabre inventions, such as the pair of feet visible from within the sculptural space. Desprez creatively used aquatint—a printmaking technique that produces shades of gray—to render the space’s dramatic shadows and stone surfaces.
A print in shades of gray of a tomb with a coffin resting on top of four sphinx statues inside. A short side of the coffin faces us, with pair of human feet visible inside and a statue of an owl sitting atop the coffin.

Tomb with Sphinxes and an Owl

c. 1779–84

Louis Jean Desprez

(French, 1743–1804)
France, 18th century

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