Idée du tableau le plus touchant du Salon de l’an 9 (La Pauvre rentière)

After Chevalier Férréol de Bonnemaison French

Engraver Anonymous, French, 19th century French

ca. 1800

Not on view

This print records a painting by Ferréol de Bonnemaison exhibited in Paris at the Salon of 1800. The title was listed simply as "Étude d’après nature" (study after nature), but the scene was described in the catalogue as "an old woman and her grandson, after having lost their fortune, and then their friends, finding themselves unable to earn a living, are constrained to implore passers-by for pity." Ripped posters on the wall behind them advertising a concert and a masked ball allude to loss and gayer times.

The subject reflects an unsettled period of French history in the years after the French revolution and during the early rise of Napoleon. The artist is asking for the viewer’s pity for members of the wealthy classes who saw their fortune and their place in society dramatically reduced.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Secondary Titles

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Idée du tableau le plus touchant du Salon de l’an 9 (La Pauvre rentière)
Artist: After Chevalier Férréol de Bonnemaison (French 1766–1826)
Engraver: Anonymous, French, 19th century
Date: ca. 1800
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Dimensions: Plate: 9 5/8 × 6 1/2 in. (24.5 × 16.5 cm)
Sheet: 9 15/16 × 6 7/8 in. (25.3 × 17.4 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Bequest of James David Draper, 2019
Object Number: 2021.15.21
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Anonymous, French, 19th century

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Study for an Arched Alcove with a Canapé, Anonymous, French, 19th century French, Pen and gray ink, brush and colored wash — Study for an Arched Alcove with a Canapé
Anonymous, French, 19th century
ca. 1804–10

Guitar, Jean-Baptiste Voboam French, Spruce, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, ebony, French — Guitar
attributed to Jean-Baptiste Voboam
1697

Seated Giant, Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) Spanish, Burnished aquatint, scaper, roulette, lavis (along the top of the landscape and within the landscape) — Seated Giant
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
by 1818 (possibly 1814–18)

Design for an Iron Railing, Anonymous, French, 19th century French, Pen and brown ink — Design for an Iron Railing
Anonymous, French, 19th century
19th century

Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French — Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.