Rome in the 17th century ranked among the most significant cultural centres of Europe. The fame which the papal metropolis enjoyed attracted crowds of artists from many European countries. One of the largest expatriate communities in Rome at that time was French, revolving around such significant figures of the contemporary artistic scene as, for example, the painters Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain. Engravers were numerous within the French diaspora, many of them ranking among the most respected masters in their field.
The surviving works by the French graphic artists active in the 17th-century Eternal City document that there prevailed links to their Italian artistic contemporaries, since the frequent subjects of their prints originated from the oeuvres of the Roman high-Baroque sculptors and painters. It was especially these precious engravings by, for example, François Spierre, Gerard Audran and Ètienne Baudet, which mediated the oeuvres of Pietro da Cortona, Gianlorenzo Bernini and Ciro Ferri to those who had never visited Rome.
Curated by: Dalibor Lešovský
