# The Four Seasons: Autumn

**Abraham Bosse** (French, 1602–1676)  
1635  
engraving and etching  
Sheet: 26.1 x 32 cm (10 1/4 x 12 5/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.830.3. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1924.830.3).

## About this work

Depictions of the four seasons in the early modern period often emphasized timeless agrarian seasonal activities. In this image of autumn, however, Abraham Bosse portrayed instead a group of middle-class people in contemporary costume. The men and women appear not as laborers bringing in the crops, but as drinkers sampling the harvest. As urban dwellers invading a rural space, they make a mess of it, overturning the table, drawing the sword, and tussling in the shadows—all indicators of taking too much liberty with the “new wine” ( du vin nouveau ).

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Abraham Bosse made this in 1635, aged 33. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Etching.** The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.
- **Engraving.** Lines cut directly into a metal plate with a steel burin, which makes them swell and taper. It took years to master, and for centuries it was how paintings travelled as pictures.

### [Abraham Bosse](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/abraham-bosse)

French, 1602–1676

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: France
- The artist was 33
- Real size: about 10 × 13 in (26 × 32 cm). The 11 × 14 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 17th century
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/513.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/513/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-four-seasons-autumn-cma-106811).