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Course: The Metropolitan Museum of Art > Unit 1
Lesson 12: Transformations- Nawa, PixCell-Deer#24
- Calder, Mobile
- Mascarade à la Grecque; Suite des Vases; and [Cheminées], designed by Petitot
- Van Orley and de Pannemaker, The Last Supper
- Oeben, Mechanical table
- Statue of Dionysos leaning on a female figure (“Hope Dionysos”)
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Mascarade à la Grecque; Suite des Vases; and [Cheminées], designed by Petitot
Met curator Femke Speelberg on fantasy in Mascarade à la Grecque; Suite des Vases; and [Cheminées], designed by Ennemond Alexandre Petitot and etched and published by Benigno Bossi, 1771, 1764.
View this work on metmuseum.org.
. Created by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Want to join the conversation?
- Near the very end of this video the speaker says "...that's what I love about works on paper...the only restriction is your own genius...", but is this not true of paint on canvas, sculpture or any number of other art forms?(5 votes)
- I believe she was talking about this artist in particular... not the art-form.(3 votes)
- How can it be exhibited? I mean it is a book, so only a few pages can be shown at the same time. Right?(1 vote)
- I'm guessing the book is there, and there are pictures of every page. Just a wild guess.(1 vote)
Video transcript
This series by Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, a French designer, and the Italian etcher, Benigno Bossi, consists of eight designs for very elaborate costumes all made up out of architectural elements, which are not meant to be worn. These etchings describe a certain period in eighteenth-century history, when everyone went crazy over Greek architecture and Greek ornament. Things that were not Greek were not hip. And they call that period the go没t grec, the Greek taste. This originated from a protest against the rococo, which was very whimsical. Instead of bringing back order, everyone went crazy over Greek architecture now. He is making fun of this go没t grec. There are four couples meant to represent different layers of society: the shepherd and shepherdess, the clergy, the bride and groom, the sutler--who feeds the men in the military, the grenadier or guard. The architectural elements morph together to form the human figure. The shepherd seems to be parts of a ceiling. The sutler is made up of an oven. The bride, her arms turn into handles, elaborately decorated with garlands, with sheep's heads, reminiscent of avant-garde fashion. The last print is a self-portrait of Petitot. He has depicted himself as an architect, also as an ancient priest. This is the age of theater and the age of imagination. These are really masterpieces of ingenuity that display the human inclination towards fantasy. That's what I love about works on paper: the only restriction is your own genius.