Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1800
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
S. A. Law is a 1800 ink by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This small engraving shows a man’s face in profile, all soft shadows and crisp lines. The artist etched it with a technique called mezzotint. It gives the print a velvety dark background that makes the light side glow. Mezzotint uses a rocked metal plate. Tiny pits hold ink, so darker areas print deeper. This method was popular for portraits in the 1700s. Compare it to Saint-Mémin’s other portraits to see how he lights faces.
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin (French pronunciation: ; 1770–1852) was a French portrait painter and museum director.
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