PAIR OF MYTHOLOGICAL ENGRAVINGS FROM BERNARD PICART'S "LE TEMPLE DES MUSES"18th century Pair of copperplate engravings by the French engraver Bernard Picart (1673–1733). The first, "Ulysses and His Companions Avoid the Charms of the Sirens," illustrates the moment Ulysses has his men strap him to the mast and stop their ears with wax to escape the deadly song of the Sirens. The second, "Semele Consumee par la Foudre de Jupiter" ("Semele Consumed by Jupiter's Thunder"), depicts the Greek myth of Semele, mother of Bacchus, being incinerated after Jupiter appeared to her in his full divine glory. Both plates originate from Picart's celebrated illustrated edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses, "Le Temple des Muses" (published in Amsterdam, first edition 1733). Framed. Not examined out of frame. $100-150
ARTIST PROFILE: Bernard Picart (1673–1733): Picart was a French engraver and book illustrator, born in Paris in 1673, who was first trained by his father, Etienne Picart (1632–1721), then studied under Benoît Audran the Elder and, from 1689, under Sebastien Le Clerc. He received further art education from Le Brun and Jouvenet at the Royal Academy, where his talents developed rapidly at just sixteen he had already gained honors at the Academy of Paris. In 1696 he went to the Academy in Antwerp, and by 1698 had moved to Amsterdam, working there as a book illustrator before returning to Paris, where he worked primarily as an engraver. He settled permanently in Amsterdam in 1711, by which time he already had an excellent reputation as an engraver, and he became famous for his highly detailed engravings after drawings by celebrated painters, with Antoine Coypel serving as a key influence on his own compositions. Picart left behind an extensive body of work comprising some 1,300 prints, including his celebrated illustrated edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses, "Le Temple des Muses." He died a wealthy man in Amsterdam in 1733.
