Ego Mater pulchrae dilectionis Eccl. 24.
Claudine Bouzonnet Stella French
After: Nicolas Poussin French
Between 1668 and 1687, Claudine Bouzonnet Stella created six prints after French classical painter Nicolas Poussin. In the earliest one, shown here, Bouzonnet Stella already demonstrates her virtuosity at translating Poussin’s paintings into a grayscale. Bold engraved lines consolidate the Holy Family group in the foreground. By contrast, lighter strokes of etching lend the distant landscape a haziness true to Poussin’s atmospheric horizons. The Latin title of this work was mysteriously erased from the plate before printing, perhaps to appeal to a broader audience. According to an earlier state of the print, Bouzonnet Stella had quoted a line from Ecclesiasticus 24 that references the Virgin Mary, thus underscoring her visual centrality in the composition.
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