Abraham Bosse

He was born to Huguenot (Calvinist) parents in Tours, France, where his father had moved from Germany. His father was a tailor, and Bosse's work always depicted clothes in loving detail. He married Catherine Sarrabat at Tours in 1632. He remained a Huguenot, dying before the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but was happy to illustrate religious subjects to Catholic taste. ==Work==

Roughly 1600 etchings are attributed to him, with subjects including: daily life, religion, literature, fashion, technology, and science. He took Callot's highly detailed small images to a larger size, and a wider range of subject matter. Unlike Callot, his declared aim, in which he largely succeeded, was to make etchings look like engravings, to which end he sacrificed willingly the freedom of the etched line, whilst certainly exploiting to the full the speed of the technique. Like most etchers, he frequently used engraving on a plate in addition to etching, but produced no pure engravings. ==Controversy==

In 1641, he began to attend classes given by the architect Girard Desargues (1591–1661) on perspective and other technical aspects of depiction. Bosse not only adopted these methods but also published a series of works between 1643–1653 explaining and promoting them. In 1648, Cardinal Mazarin established the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. Bosse was made an honorary member in 1651. However his publicising of Desargues' methods embroiled him in a controversy with Charles Le Brun and his followers, who had different methods, and also a belief that "genius" rather than technical method should be the guide in creating artworks. In 1661 Bosse was forced to withdraw from the Academy; he established his own school as an alternative, but it was suppressed by Le Brun. ==Major works==

Etchings & Images • — fashion (partly after Jean de St-Igny)(1629) • () — street cries • (1632) • (1633) — bourgeois vs pastoral weddings • (1635?) — The trades • Plates for (1639) • Plates for (1642) • (1643), printed by P. de Hayes, Paris • (1643) • ''De la manière de graver à l'eaux-forte et au burin'' (1645) • (1645) The "Manual of Etching". • (1648) — Manual on perspective • (1653) • The famous frontispiece for Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1651) was created with input from Hobbes. • Plates for (1656) • (1664) — Architecture • (1665) Later Collections • Die Kunst, in Kupfer zu stechen, Ilmer, Osnabrück 1975 (Repr. d. Ausg. Nürnberg 1765) • Radier-Büchlein. Handelt von der Etzkunst, nemlich wie man mit Scheidwasser in Kupfer etzen, das Wasser und wie auch den harten und weichen Etzgrund machen solle, Moos, München 1977, (Repr. d. Ausg. Nürnberg 1689) == Gallery ==

File:Abraham Bosse, The Shoemakers, NGA 41326.jpg|alt=Men making shoes|The Shoemakers, etching (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, The Valet, NGA 73545.jpg|alt=Valet sorting clothes|The Valet, engraving in black on laid paper, 29 x 20.4 cm (11 7/16 x 8 1/16 in.), (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Adolescence, 1636, NGA 5255.jpg|alt=Man and woman flirting|Adolescence, 1636, engraving and etching (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Manhood, 1636, NGA 5253.jpg|alt=People eating around a dining table|Manhood, 1636, engraving and etching (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Engravers, 1642, NGA 34677.jpg|alt=Men working at desks on engravings, in the background art patrons examining framed pictures|Engravers, 1642, etching (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Childhood, 1636, NGA 5256.jpg|alt=Children playing a game with balls and a cue stick|Childhood, 1636, engraving and etching (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Death, 1636, NGA 5254.jpg|alt=Old man by fireplace with two attendants|Death, 1636, engraving and etching (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Odoratus, L'Ordorat, NGA 73544.jpg|alt=Man and two women on balcony overlooking gardens. One woman and the man are sniffing bunches of flowers. There are two dogs at the man's feet.|''Odoratus, L'Ordorat'', engraving in black on laid paper, 24 x 32 cm (9 7/16 x 12 5/8 in.) (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Louis XIII as Hercules, NGA 55106.jpg|alt=Man in the pose of Hercules, carrying club, lion and rooster in background|Louis XIII as Hercules, engraving and etching (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Michel Larcher, 1647, NGA 42813.jpg|alt=Portrait of a middle-aged man|Michel Larcher, 1647, engraving (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Gentry Visiting a Prison, NGA 53276.jpg|alt=Noble men and women in a prison yard. Prisoners beseeching aid. One prisoner is chained at the neck.|Gentry Visiting a Prison, engraving with etching, 25.4 x 32.2 cm (10 x 12 11/16 in.) (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, The Wise Virgins at Prayer, NGA 128374.jpg|alt=Five women seated around an altar|The Wise Virgins at Prayer, etching on laid paper, plate: 26 x 33 cm (10 1/4 x 13 in.) (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, The Foolish Virgins Sleeping, NGA 128378.jpg|alt=Five women napping, seated in front of a fireplace|The Foolish Virgins Sleeping, etching on laid paper, plate: 25.4 x 32 cm (10 x 12 5/8 in.) sheet: 29.2 x 36.2 cm (11 1/2 x 14 1/4 in.) (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, The Prodigal Son as a Swineherd, NGA 61183.jpg|alt=Man seated in a small copse, hands clasped in prayer. Pigs in background.|The Prodigal Son as a Swineherd, engraving (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Le noble peintre, 1642, NGA 140361.jpg|alt=A painter with a portrait on an easel. The subject of the portrait stands next to the painter.|Le Noble Peintre, 1642, etching on laid paper, plate: 9 7/8 x 12 11/16 in. (25.1 x 32.2 cm), sheet: 26.4 x 33.3 cm (10 3/8 x 13 1/8 in.) (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, Frontispiece for Callot's "The Penitents", NGA 36869.jpg|''Frontispiece for Callot's "The Penitents"'', etching and engraving (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, The Wise Virgins before the Fire, NGA 128375.jpg|alt=Five women seated around a fireplace. A prie-dieu is visible.|The Wise Virgins before the Fire, etching on laid paper, plate: 26 x 33 cm (10 1/4 x 13 in.) (National Gallery of Art) File:Abraham Bosse, A Sculptor in His Atelier, 1642, NGA 121537.jpg|alt=A sculptor is showing a large work to wealthy patrons.|A Sculptor in His Atelier, 1642, etching, plate: 25.8 x 32.5 cm (10 3/16 x 12 13/16 in.) (National Gallery of Art) ==Notes==