intaglio, paper, sheet size 27x35 cm, inscribed at bottom: Painted by Watteau - Engraved by P. Lightfoot, stains and foxing spots in margins, paper folds
The engraving is based on a painting by French Rococo painter Antoine Watteau entitled "Bacchus Grove." The figures are arranged in three main groups, which, according to the interpretation of scholars, may symbolize the three phases of love: childhood innocence (left side), romantic courtship (center) and fulfillment (right side). The scene is filled with melancholy serenity, typical of Watteau's works, where time stopped during carefree outdoor entertainment.
Peter Lightfoot (1805-1885) was a British engraver who gained recognition in the Victorian era for his extraordinary precision in the intagliotechnique . He honed his skills in London, which was then the world center of engraving. He spent most of his professional career with Virtue Publishing. His work regularly appeared in "The Art Journal"-the most important 19th-century British art magazine, which brought masterpieces of painting to the general public. He was famous for engraving the paintings of his contemporaries (such as William Etty and Henry Wyatt) as well as the old masters. Lightfoot was a master at rendering the effect of "luminosity" and various textures, and this can be seen in the way he rendered the sheen of ladies' silk dresses and the delicate, almost "fuzzy" foliage of trees.
