Claude Mellan
French, 1598-1688
The Mousetrap
INV-2227
Claude Mellan
French, 1598-1688c. 1654
The Mousetrap
Claude Mellan French, 1598-1688 →engravingpaper
Date
c. 1654
Medium
Engraving and drypoint in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 22.7 × 30.9 cm (8 15/16 × 12 3/16 in.); Sheet: 23.4 × 31.4 cm (9 1/4 × 12 3/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
The Amanda S. Johnson and Marion J. Livingston Fund
Mellan never completed this secular engraving, and he may not have intended to publish or distribute it widely. The work is a surprisingly sensual departure for an artist who engraved hundreds of religious subjects and portraits, but it maintains his sinuous, supple line. The stark nudity of the Venus-like central figure, taken from an unfinished plate with substantial areas of blank space, enhances the print’s abstraction.
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