The Lover Surprised (L'Amant Surpris) (c. 1798): Art, History and Details
The Lover Surprised (L'Amant Surpris) at the Cleveland Museum of Art: c. 1798, Wash manner etching and engraving printed in blue, red, yellow, and black inks. Explore the work's context, creator attribution and collection history.
The Lover Surprised (L'Amant Surpris) (c. 1798) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Charles-Melchior Descourtis (French, 1753–1820); Frédéric Schall (French, 1752–1825).
The work and its context
The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:
A young woman surprises her sweetheart, whom she has found reading love letters in a wooded park. The love-struck fellow carries a miniature portrait of her as a keepsake. Verdant foliage, a nearby brook, and a blooming rosebush signal fertility and the bounty of life. The nude female statue sitting on a pedestal seems to watch the playful lovers.
Object facts
- Title: The Lover Surprised (L'Amant Surpris)
- Date: c. 1798
- Creator attribution: Charles-Melchior Descourtis (French, 1753–1820); Frédéric Schall (French, 1752–1825)
- Culture: France
- Type: Print
- Technique: Wash manner etching and engraving printed in blue, red, yellow, and black inks
- Dimensions: Sheet: 57 x 45 cm (22 7/16 x 17 11/16 in.); to borderline: 46.5 x 37.5 cm (18 5/16 x 14 3/4 in.)
- Collection: PR - Engraving
- Department: Prints
- Accession number: 2015.151
Collection credit
Gift of the Print Club of Cleveland in honor of the museum's one-hundredth anniversary
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.
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