Richard Earlom (British, 1743–1822)
after Anthony Van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641)
Calisto in Her Retirement
INV-1390
Richard Earlom (British, 1743–1822)
after Anthony Van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641)published 1778
Calisto in Her Retirement
Richard Earlom (British, 1743–1822) after Anthony Van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641) →mezzotintprint
Date
published 1778
Medium
Mezzotint over etching in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 37.7 × 34 cm (14 7/8 × 13 7/16 in.); Plate: 41.5 × 34 cm (16 3/8 × 13 7/16 in.); Sheet: 46.7 × 61.5 cm (18 7/16 × 24 1/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
The Wallace L. DeWolf and Joseph Brooks Fair Collections
Richard Earlom’s painterly handling of flesh tones amply demonstrates the charms of reproducing bathing beauties from the Dutch Baroque in mezzotint. Earlom designed this voyeuristic glimpse of the lustrous, somewhat demure nymph after an Anthony van Dyck painting. Alessandro Mastro-Valerio’s search for the ideal printmaking medium likely culminated in seeing a similar work during his inspiring visit to the Century of Progress Exposition in 1933. At least one mezzotint was on display at the Art Institute at the time: The Junction of Severn and Wye, from J. M. W. Turner’s Liber Studiorum