Milkmaid of Boulogne, 3rd plate (Laitiere a Boulogne)
1874
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1874
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Milkmaid of Boulogne, 3rd plate (Laitiere a Boulogne) is a 1874 ink by Alphonse Legros, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This etching shows a woman in a field, bending over a cow. She’s milking it while holding a bucket under the cow’s udder. Tall grasses and trees fill the background, drawn with sharp, crisscrossed lines. The artist used a technique where ink is scraped into metal plates to create texture—notice how the lines vary in thickness. This was a way to add depth without color. Next, check out etching, drypoint, aquatint to see how artists made prints like this.
