id:			313396
accession number:	2018.207
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2018.207
updated:		

Tomb with Sphinx, c. 1779–84. Louis Jean Desprez (French, 1743–1804). Aquatint with etching; platemark: 34 x 48.7 cm (13 3/8 x 19 3/16 in.); sheet: 35 x 50.3 cm (13 3/4 x 19 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Trust 2018.207

title:				Tomb with Sphinx
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1779–84
creation date earliest:		1774
creation date latest:		1789
current location:		
creditline:			Severance and Greta Millikin Trust
copyright:			

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culture:	France, 18th century
technique:	aquatint with etching
department:	Prints
collection:	PR - Aquatint
type:		Print
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: Wollin 28

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CREATORS

* Louis Jean Desprez (French, 1743–1804)  - artist

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measurements: Platemark: 34 x 48.7 cm (13 3/8 x 19 3/16 in.); Sheet: 35 x 50.3 cm (13 3/4 x 19 13/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	inscribed in graphite on verso: 1881 / 10; watermark and countermark: fleur de lis enclosed in a circle, (right side of sheet); VM’TORJ, (est.), (left side of the sheet)
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(Galerie Gerda Bassenge, Berlin, Germany, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
	date: 2018
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2018-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
The growing popularity of Egypt in the late 18th century, bolstered by Napoleon Bonaparte’s ultimately failed attempt to colonize the country, ensured a ready market for the subject of Louis Jean Desprez's print.

digital description:
Originally trained as an architect, Louis Jean Desprez produced this print depicting a tomb while living in Rome. He combined details observed while visiting catacombs in southern Italy with macabre inventions, such as the pair of feet visible from within the sculptural space. Desprez creatively used aquatint—a printmaking technique that produces shades of gray—to render the space’s dramatic shadows and stone surfaces.

wall description:

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Wollin, Nils G. <em>Gravures originales de Desprez ou exécutées d'après dessins</em>. Malmö: J. Kroon, 1933.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 57, no. 28 (as Tombeau c); Reproduced: p. 146
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2018.207/2018.207_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2018.207/2018.207_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2018.207/2018.207_full.tif