Back View of a Roman Servant Boy

Back View of a Roman Servant Boy

François André Vincent

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

François André Vincent was a successful portraitist and history painter at the end of the eighteenth century. During his fellowship at the French Academy in Rome between 1771 and 1775, he also made a great number of caricatures. Here, Mansueto, the young servant of the painter Anicet-Charles-Gabriel Lemonnier—who owned the drawing—is the subject of Vincent’s wit. By showing the boy from the back, standing with his hands on his hips, the artist captures his determination and vigor. Whereas the offspring of wealthy families were typically well-educated and took part in a variety of pleasant pursuits, the life of a child born to the working classes was quite different. It was not until 1874 that child labor laws were enacted in France to protect children under twelve years old.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Back View of a Roman Servant BoyBack View of a Roman Servant BoyBack View of a Roman Servant BoyBack View of a Roman Servant BoyBack View of a Roman Servant Boy

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.