Daphnis Running toward Chloe

Daphnis Running toward Chloe

baron François Gérard

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1798 Gérard contributed six illustrations to the 1800 reprint of Longus’s Les Amours pastorales de Daphnis et de Chloé (1559). This composition, which was not ultimately engraved in the publication, is a première pensée for the climax of the novel when the two lovers finally reunite. On the sheet, Daphnis emerges from the lower left corner and reaches for Chloe. Bold black chalk outlines delineate the figures from the chaotic background. Gérard’s animated blending of wash and white gouache gives the impression of a billowing dress that both covers and reveals Chloe’s lissome figure. This emphasis on the figure, much akin to that of antique sculpted drapery, reflects Gérard’s earlier education in the studio of Jacques Louis David (French, 1748–1825).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.