The Cupboard (1778): Art, History and Details

The Cupboard (1778) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732–1806).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Fragonard designed this popular etching to delight his viewers, who spy on the dramatic scene like the eavesdropping servants in the background. A maiden weeps as her boyfriend, caught hiding in a wardrobe, sheepishly faces the girl’s angry parents. Rumpled bed sheets and the position of the hat give away the passionate activities of the young lovers. Comically, the hat with a broad ribbon held by the boy belongs to his girlfriend. His plain hat with a buttoned-up brim hangs in the cupboard.

Object facts

• Title: The Cupboard
• Date: 1778
• Creator attribution: Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732–1806)
• Culture: France
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching
• Dimensions: Sheet: 39.1 x 52.3 cm (15 3/8 x 20 9/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1994.196

Collection credit

Edwin R. and Harriet Pelton Perkins Memorial Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “New Acquisitions Enter the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Permanent Collection,” February 14, 1995, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Wehn, James. “The 18th-Century Selfie: A new exhibition looks at the role of prints and drawings in pre- and post-revolutionary France.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 56, no. 4 (July/August 2016): 8-9.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.