Hope — Principes de Dessein

An elegant allegorical figure of Hope, rendered in the manière de crayon to imitate the soft warmth of a red chalk drawing.

L'Espérance. After Jacques Eustache de Sève; engraved by Jean-Baptiste Boudard. From Principes de Dessein d'Après Nature. Published by Mondhare et Jean, Paris, c. 1785.

The Principes de Dessein d'Après Nature compiled academic figure studies for use in French drawing schools, drawing on plates by leading eighteenth-century masters. Allegorical figures of the cardinal and theological virtues — Faith, Hope, Charity — formed a staple of academic instruction, providing students with idealised draped figures whose poses and gestures had been refined through centuries of European tradition.

Etching and engraving in crayon manner. Sheet size approximately 41.4 × 29.7 cm. Very Good.