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Jean Jacques de Boissieu

The Public Scribe

1790
Etching, drypoint, and roulette on ivory wove paper
25.8 × 38.4 cm (10.2 × 15.1 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This large plate is characteristic of de Boissieu' s last period of printmaking, which was dominated by his interest in landscapes and scenes of daily life. The influence of seventeenth-century Dutch genre scenes is clear in this work, which depicts the predicament of a writer who must transcribe the message of a young couple although more interesting activities distract his attention. Boissieu used the roulette, a tool with a spiked wheel, to indent the plate and simulate the effects of an inked wash.

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