Unidentified Female Silhouette
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1797
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1797
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This print shows a woman in profile. Her face isn’t named. The artist used a rich black ink on soft wove paper. Silhouettes were cheap and fast in the 1790s. A copper plate, pressed once, gives this smooth gradation of tones. You can see the cross-hatching in the shadows—tiny lines that make the dark feel deep. Look up Saint-Mémin, Charles B. J. Févret de for more prints like it.
