The Mousetrap

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Mellan never completed this secular engraving, and he may not have intended to publish or distribute it widely. The work is a surprisingly sensual departure for an artist who engraved hundreds of religious subjects and portraits, but it maintains his sinuous, supple line. The stark nudity of the Venus-like central figure, taken from an unfinished plate with substantial areas of blank space, enhances the print’s abstraction.

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