Abraham Bosse, Engravers, 1642, NGA 34677

Abraham Bosse ( – 14 February 1676) was a French artist, mainly as a

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

, but also in

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

.Maxime Préaud, "Célébrations nationales 2004, Arts: Abraham Bosse, graveur en taille-douce et théoricien de l’art français", 2004
Based on recent research, his date of birth has been corrected to 1604 from the traditionally given birth year of 1602. Bosse's apprenticeship contract was found in which it is mentioned that he was aged 16 at the date of signing the contract (16 June 1620).

Life

He was born to

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

(

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

) parents in

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where his father had moved from Germany. His father was a tailor, and Bosse's work always depicted clothes in loving detail. He married Catherine Sarrabat at Tours in 1632. He remained a Huguenot, dying before the

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...

, but was happy to illustrate religious subjects to

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

taste.

Work

Roughly 1600 etchings are attributed to him, with subjects including: daily life, religion, literature, fashion, technology, and science. Most of his output was illustrations for books, but many were also sold separately. His style grows from Dutch and

Flemish art The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...

, but is given a strongly French flavour. Many of his images give informative detail about middle and upper-class daily life in the period, although they must be treated with care as historical evidence. His combination of very carefully depicted grand interiors with relatively trivial domestic subjects was original and highly influential on French art, and also abroad —

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like ...

's engravings are, among other things, a parody of the style. Most of his images are perhaps best regarded as illustrations rather than art. He was apprenticed in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

about 1620 to the

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

-born engraver Melchior Tavernier, who was also an important publisher. His first etchings date to 1622, and are influenced by

Jacques Bellange Jacques Bellange (c. 1575–1616) was an artist and printmaker from the Duchy of Lorraine (then independent but now part of France) whose etchings and some drawings are his only securely identified works today. They are among the most striking Nor ...

. Following a meeting in Paris about 1630, he became a follower of

Jacques Callot Jacques Callot (; – 1635) was a baroque printmaker and draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine (an independent state on the north-eastern border of France, southwestern border of Germany and overlapping the southern Netherlands). He is an impor ...

, whose technical innovations in etching he popularised in the famous and much translated ''Traité des manières de graver en taille-douce'' 'Treatise on Line Engraving''(1645), the first to be published. He took Callot's highly detailed small images to a larger size, and a wider range of subject matter. Unlike Callot, his declared aim, in which he largely succeeded, was to make etchings look like

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

s, to which end he sacrificed willingly the freedom of the etched line, whilst certainly exploiting to the full the speed of the technique. Like most etchers, he frequently used engraving on a plate in addition to etching, but produced no pure engravings.

Controversy

In 1641, he began to attend classes given by the architect Girard Desargues (1591–1661) on perspective and other technical aspects of depiction. Bosse not only adopted these methods but also published a series of works between 1643–1653 explaining and promoting them. In 1648,

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

established the

Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (; en, "Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abo ...

. Bosse was made an honorary member in 1651.Benezit 2006. However his publicising of Desargues' methods embroiled him in a controversy with

Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. As court painter to Louis XIV, who declared him "the greatest French artist of ...

and his followers, who had different methods, and also a belief that "genius" rather than technical method should be the guide in creating artworks. In 1661 Bosse was forced to withdraw from the Academy; he established his own school as an alternative, but it was suppressed by Le Brun.

Major works

Etchings & Images

* — fashion (partly after Jean de St-Igny)(1629) * (ca. 1630) — street cries * (1632) * (1633) — bourgeois vs pastoral weddings * (1635?) — The trades * Plates for (1639) * Plates for (1642) * (1643), printed by P. de Hayes, Paris * (1643)
''De la manière de graver à l'eaux-forte et au burin''
(1645) * (1645) The "Manual of Etching". * (1648) — Manual on perspective * (1653) * The famous frontispiece for ''

Leviathan Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...

'' by

Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book '' Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influ ...

(1651) was created with input from Hobbes. *Plates for (1656) * (1664) — Architecture * (1665)

Later Collections

* ''Die Kunst, in Kupfer zu stechen'', Ilmer, Osnabrück 1975 (Repr. d. Ausg. Nürnberg 1765) * ''Radier-Büchlein. Handelt von der Etzkunst, nemlich wie man mit Scheidwasser in Kupfer etzen, das Wasser und wie auch den harten und weichen Etzgrund machen solle'', Moos, München 1977, (Repr. d. Ausg. Nürnberg 1689)

Gallery

File:Abraham Bosse, The Shoemakers, NGA 41326.jpg, alt=Men making shoes, ''The Shoemakers'', etching (

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...

) File:Abraham Bosse, The Valet, NGA 73545.jpg, alt=Valet sorting clothes, ''The Valet'', engraving in black on laid paper, 29 x 20.4 cm (11 7/16 x 8 1/16 in.), (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Adolescence, 1636, NGA 5255.jpg, alt=Man and woman flirting, ''Adolescence'', 1636, engraving and etching (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Manhood, 1636, NGA 5253.jpg, alt=People eating around a dining table, ''Manhood'', 1636, engraving and etching (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Engravers, 1642, NGA 34677.jpg, alt=Men working at desks on engravings, in the background art patrons examining framed pictures, ''Engravers'', 1642, etching (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Childhood, 1636, NGA 5256.jpg, alt=Children playing a game with balls and a cue stick, ''Childhood'', 1636, engraving and etching (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Death, 1636, NGA 5254.jpg, alt=Old man by fireplace with two attendants, ''Death'', 1636, engraving and etching (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Odoratus, L'Ordorat, NGA 73544.jpg, alt=Man and two women on balcony overlooking gardens. One woman and the man are sniffing bunches of flowers. There are two dogs at the man's feet., ''Odoratus, L'Ordorat'', engraving in black on laid paper, 24 x 32 cm (9 7/16 x 12 5/8 in.) (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Louis XIII as Hercules, NGA 55106.jpg, alt=Man in the pose of Hercules, carrying club, lion and rooster in background, ''Louis XIII as Hercules'', engraving and etching (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Michel Larcher, 1647, NGA 42813.jpg, alt=Portrait of a middle-aged man, ''Michel Larcher'', 1647, engraving (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Gentry Visiting a Prison, NGA 53276.jpg, alt=Noble men and women in a prison yard. Prisoners beseeching aid. One prisoner is chained at the neck., ''Gentry Visiting a Prison'', engraving with etching, 25.4 x 32.2 cm (10 x 12 11/16 in.) (

) File:Abraham Bosse, The Wise Virgins at Prayer, NGA 128374.jpg, alt=Five women seated around an altar, ''The Wise Virgins at Prayer'', etching on laid paper, plate: 26 x 33 cm (10 1/4 x 13 in.) (

) File:Abraham Bosse, The Foolish Virgins Sleeping, NGA 128378.jpg, alt=Five women napping, seated in front of a fireplace, ''The Foolish Virgins Sleeping'', etching on laid paper, plate: 25.4 x 32 cm (10 x 12 5/8 in.) sheet: 29.2 x 36.2 cm (11 1/2 x 14 1/4 in.) (

) File:Abraham Bosse, The Prodigal Son as a Swineherd, NGA 61183.jpg, alt=Man seated in a small copse, hands clasped in prayer. Pigs in background., ''The Prodigal Son as a Swineherd'', engraving (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Le noble peintre, 1642, NGA 140361.jpg, alt=A painter with a portrait on an easel. The subject of the portrait stands next to the painter., ''Le Noble Peintre'', 1642, etching on laid paper, plate: 9 7/8 x 12 11/16 in. (25.1 x 32.2 cm), sheet: 26.4 x 33.3 cm (10 3/8 x 13 1/8 in.) (

) File:Abraham Bosse, Frontispiece for Callot's "The Penitents", NGA 36869.jpg, ''Frontispiece for Callot's "The Penitents"'', etching and engraving (

) File:Abraham Bosse, The Wise Virgins before the Fire, NGA 128375.jpg, alt=Five women seated around a fireplace. A prie-dieu is visible., ''The Wise Virgins before the Fire'', etching on laid paper, plate: 26 x 33 cm (10 1/4 x 13 in.) (

) File:Abraham Bosse, A Sculptor in His Atelier, 1642, NGA 121537.jpg, alt=A sculptor is showing a large work to wealthy patrons., ''A Sculptor in His Atelier'', 1642, etching, plate: 25.8 x 32.5 cm (10 3/16 x 12 13/16 in.) (

)

Notes

Bibliography

* Benezit (2006)
"BOSSE, Abraham"
vol. 2, pp. 922–923, in ''

Benezit Dictionary of Artists The ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists'' (in French, ''Bénézit: Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs'') is an extensive publication of bibliographical information on painters, sculptors, designers and engravers create ...

''. Paris: Gründ. * Dhombres, Jean; Joël Sakharovitch, editors (1994). ''Desargues en son temps''. Paris: Albert Blanchard. . * Guerriaud, M. (2013)
"Abraham Bosse et la gravure du doyen"
''Revue d’Histoire de la Pharmacie'', vol. 378/379, . * Harrison, Colin (1996)
"Bosse, Abraham", vol. 4, pp. 467–469
in ''

The Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press ...

'', 34 volumes, edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. . * Join-Lambert, S.; J.-P. Manceau (1995). ''Abraham Bosse, graveur et sçavant''. CRDP de la région Centre.. * Join-Lambert, S.; Maxime Préaud, editors (2004). ''Abraham Bosse, savant graveur''. BNF-Musée des Beaux-arts de Tours, diffusion éd. du Seuil. . * Vuillemin, Jean-Claude (2008). “Abraham Bosse”, vol. 1, pp. 176–179, in ''

Dictionary of Seventeenth-Century French Philosophers The ''Dictionary of Seventeenth-Century French Philosophers'' is a dictionary of philosophical writers in France between 1601 and 1700, edited by Luc Foisneau. An augmented and revised French edition has been published in 2015. Content The '' ...

'', edited by L. Foisneau, 2 vols. London and New York: Thoemmes Continuum. .

External links

Dossier on Abraham Bosse
by the French ministry of culture. (in French)

BNF exhibition feature, with many images & much text in French — click for image galleries, then choose from menu on left * Abraham Bosse (1645
''Tracté des manieres de graver en taille douce sur l'airin''
- digital facsimile from the

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...

Works by Abraham Bosse
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosse, Abraham 1600s births 1676 deaths Artists from Tours, France 17th-century French engravers Huguenots