The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 7, 2025

The Four Seasons: Autumn

1635

Abraham Bosse

(French, 1602–1676)
France, 17th century
engraving and etching
Sheet: 26.1 x 32 cm (10 1/4 x 12 5/8 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1924.830.3
Catalogue raisonné: Le Blanc 355, Duplessis 1084, Blum 1035
Location: 101A Prints & Drawings

Did You Know?

Like the figures in this composition, Bosse himself had little interest in following the rules. In 1661, he was expelled from the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture due to his controversial teachings.

Description

Depictions of the four seasons in the early modern period often emphasized timeless agrarian seasonal activities. In this image of autumn, however, Abraham Bosse portrayed instead a group of middle-class people in contemporary costume. The men and women appear not as laborers bringing in the crops, but as drinkers sampling the harvest. As urban dwellers invading a rural space, they make a mess of it, overturning the table, drawing the sword, and tussling in the shadows—all indicators of taking too much liberty with the “new wine” (du vin nouveau).
  • ?–1924
    FitzRoy Carrington [1869–1954], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    October 17, 1924–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Peters, Emily J. “In Vino Veritas: Wine's Truths and Consequences on Display.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 65, no. 3 (2025): 10-11. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 10-11 archive.org
  • In Vino Veritas (In Wine, Truth). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2025-January 11, 2026).
    Cycles of Life: The Four Seasons Tapestries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13, 2022-February 19, 2023).
  • {{cite web|title=The Four Seasons: Autumn|url=false|author=Abraham Bosse|year=1635|access-date=07 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1924.830.3