The Large Self-Portrait1778/81
Jean Etienne Liotard made this in 1778/81, aged about 76. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago. More about this work
About this work
A work made of etching, roulette, and mezzotint in black on cream laid paper.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
Jean Etienne Liotard made this in 1778/81, aged about 76. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Mezzotint
- The whole copper plate is roughened with a toothed rocker so it would print solid black. The artist then scrapes and burnishes it smooth where the lights should be, working from dark to light, which gives soft, velvety tones.
- 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.
- Laid paper
- Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 2022.273
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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