JEAN-FRANÇOIS JANINET
Paris 1752 – 1814 Paris
Portrait of Marie Antoinette (2nd State), 1777
After Jean-Baptiste-André Gautier-Dagoty (about 1740 – about 1786)
Etching and engraving printed on two sheets as follows: oval portrait on full sheet in yellow, blue, red and black inks from four plates; decorative frame, cut in center, printed in blue and orange inks from two plates.
255 x 205 mm.; 10 x 7 in., oval image
408 x 319 mm.; 16 x 12 ½ inches, printed border
Inscriptions:
Below oval portrait, masked by frame:
Gravé par Janinet en 1777./Marie-Antoinette d’Autriche/Reine de France et de Navarre/Née à Vienne le 2.9bre 1755./Mariée à Versailles le 16. de May 1770./Imprimé par Blin
Below oval frame, flanking central coat-of-arms:
MARIE-ANTte D’AUTRICHE/Reine de France – et de Navarre
Exhibited:
Works on Paper, The Armory, New York, February 28th - March 3rd 2002
R. S. Johnson Fine Art, Old Master Prints and Drawings 1470-1800, April 2002, no. 63 and reproduced on page 71 of catalogue.
Reference:
Inventaire 18e siècle 12:29, no. 56.
Regency to Empire : French Printmaking 1715-1814, Victor I. Carlson and John W. Ittmann, The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1985: see no. 66 (a 3rd state) , illustrated on p. 205.
Notes:
1. A very fine impression with pristine colors of the 2nd State (of three states) of this exceedingly rare and complex plate, one of the master prints produced in late 18th century France. In the 3rd State, there are flecks of gold added to the orange-gold colored flowers and ornamentation of the oval frame.
2. John Ittmann (reference above, p. 204) notes the similar 2nd State impression of this work at the Art Institute of Chicago.