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A Couple Reading

Etcher Maria Cosway British
After Richard Cosway British
Publisher Rudolph Ackermann, London British
1800
Not on view
This closely seated pair, dressed in pseudo-Renaissance costume and reading from a large book, may be an idealized portraits of Maria and Richard Cosway, but are surely also intended to evoke the lovers Paolo and Francesca from Dante's "Divine Comedy." Maria based the print on one of her husband's designs and it was published in a series familiarly known as "Cosway's Drawing Book."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Couple Reading
  • Series/Portfolio: Imitations in Chalk, etched by Mrs. Cosway from Original Drawings by R. Cosway, Esq., R.A., plate 5
  • Etcher: Maria Cosway (British (born Italy), Florence 1759/60–1838 Lodi)
  • Artist: After Richard Cosway (British, Oakford, Devon 1742–1821 London)
  • Publisher: Rudolph Ackermann, London (British, active 1794–1832)
  • Date: 1800
  • Medium: Soft-ground etching
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 10 9/16 × 7 1/2 in. (26.8 × 19 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1961
  • Object Number: 61.622.28
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Maria Cosway - A Couple Reading - The Metropolitan Museum of Art