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Bernard Picart

Pandora's Box

Pandora's Box

Bernard Picart's Pandora's Box, an original etching and engraving, Temple of the Muses.

Pandora: In order to revenge Prometheus (who had stolen fire and delivered it to mortals), Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create a virgin whose beauty would equal that of any goddess. Pandora, the first woman, thus came into existence. The God then presented her with a vase -- incorrectly known as 'Pandora's Box' -- which she was to present to the man who married her. Zeus sent Pandora as a gift to Epimetheus who was instantly captured by her beauty. Pandora thus raised the lid of the vase and all the evils and afflictions which had been placed within it spread over the Earth to permanently plague mankind. Hope alone remained.

This original engraving and etching was both designed and engraved by Bernard Picart and originates from the Temple of the Muses (Neu-Erofneer Musen-Tempel), dealing with Greek mythology. This impression of Pandora's Box hails from the 1754 edition, published in both Amsterdam and Leipzig.

 
Title: Pandora's Box
Artist: Picart, Bernard (Paris, 1673 - Amsterdam, 1733)
Date: 1733 (1754 Edition)
Medium: Original Etching and Engraving
Publisher: Chatelain, Amsterdam and Leipzig
Note: Bernard Picart: An exceptional French eighteenth century engraver, Bernard Picart received his artistic education from his father, Etienne (1632-1721), and from Le Brun and Jouvenet at the Royal Academy. To say that Bernard Picart's considerable talents developed rapidly would be an understatement: at the age of sixteen he gained honors at the Academy of Paris. He moved permanently to Amsterdam in 1710. At this time this city was a major center for both publishing and printmaking and for the following two decades Bernard Picart's fine work placed him as the successor to Romeyn de Hooghe.
  Bernard Picart excelled chiefly in the fields of portraiture, ornamental designs and mythological and religious subjects, both after the old masters and upon his own creation. In the former category he was commissioned for portraits of Philip, Duke of Orleans, Eugene Francois, Prince of Savoy, Don Luis, Prince of the Asturias, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, and Kings Charles I, Charles II, James II, William III and George I. As an ornamental engraver, Bernard Picart designed and engraved plates for numerous books. He also contributed large plates to such famous sets as Les Impostures Innocentes (seventy-eight large engravings in imitation of old master engravers), the historically important Ceremonies Religieuses (1723-1743), and The Temple of the Muses (Neu-Erofneer Musen-Tempel).
  This beautiful engraving entitled Pandora's Box, originates from The Temple of the Muses, a portfolio of sixty plates both designed and engraved by Picart. (The artist also created the separately engraved, ornamental borders surrounding each image.) Obviously, the work involved in constructing these large and complex works of art was time consuming and the entire project took all of three years to complete. The com pleted set was published in Amsterdam by Chatelain in 1733, the year of Picart's death. Due to the popularity of these fine engravings dealing with significant events in Greek mythology, several subsequent editions were published. This original Picart engraving hails from the 1754 edition, published in both Amsterdam and Leipzig.
Raisonne: G. K. Nagler, Neues Allgemeines Kunstler-Lexicon, Schwarzenberg & Schumann, Leipzig, Vol. 12, p. 416.
Source: The Temple of the Muses
Size: 13 1/2 X 10 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
  Matted with 100% Archival Materials
Condition: Printed upon eighteenth century hand-made, laid paper and with full margins as published in Amsterdam on the above date. A strongly printed example bearing all the fine lines and tonal values of an early impression and in excellent condition throughout. Altogether Pandora's Box represents a superb, original example of the engraved art of Bernard Picart from his famous Temple of the Muses.
Price: Sold - The price is no longer available.
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Original engraving by the 18th century French artist, Bernard Picart.

Pandora's Box by Bernard Picart
30.- Pandora's Box

View other original engravings created by Bernard Picart for "The Temple of the Muses".

Bernard Picart & " The Temple of the Muses"
01.- Achelous in the Shape of a Bull, is Vanquished by Hercules by Bernard Picart by Bernard Picart Sold   27.- Oeneus, King of Calydon, Having Neglected Diana in a Sacrifice, is Punished for his Impiety by Bernard Picart Sold
02.- Actaeon Turned into a Stag, and Devoured by his Dogs by Bernard Picart Available   28.- Orpheus Leading Eurydice out of Hell, Looks Back upon Her, and Loses Her Forever by Bernard Picart Available
03.- Alcyone and Ceyx Transformed into Halcyons by Bernard Picart Available   29.- Pan Pursues Syrinx: She is Metamorphosed into a Reed by Bernard Picart Sold
04.- Amphion Builds the Walls of Thebes by the Music of his Lyre by Bernard Picart Sold   30.- Pandora's Box by Bernard Picart Sold
05.- Arethusa Pursued by Alpheus, and Turned to a Fountain by Bernard Picart Available   31.- Penelope's Web by Bernard Picart Available
06.- Arion Preserved by a Dolphin by Bernard Picart Sold   32.- Perseus Cuts off Medusa's Head by Bernard Picart Available
07.- Atlas Supports the Heavens on his Shoulders by Bernard Picart Sold   33.- Perseus Delivers Andromeda by Bernard Picart Available
08.- Bellerophon Fights the Chimaera by Bernard Picart Available   34.- Phaeton Struck Down by Jupiter's Thunder by Bernard Picart Available
09.- Cassandra Foretelles the Trojans their Fate, and is not Hearkened To by Bernard Picart Sold   35.- Prometheus Tortured by a Vulture by Bernard Picart Sold
10.- Castor and Pollux, or the Twins by Bernard Picart Available   36.- Pygmalion is Enamored with a Statue he had Made: and Venus at his Prayer Transforms it into a Woman by Bernard Picart Available
11.- Chaos by Bernard Picart Sold   37.- Salmacis and Hermaphroditus United in one Body by Bernard Picart Available
12.- Clytia Changed into a Turnesole (Heliotrope) by Bernard Picart Sold   38.- Semele is Consumed by Jupiter's Thunder by Bernard Picart Sold
13.- Cygnus Transformed to a Swan and Phaeton's Sisters into Poplars by Bernard Picart Sold   39.- Sisyphus's Stone by Bernard Picart Sold
14.- Daphne Pursued by Apollo, and Turned to a Laurel by Bernard Picart Sold   40.- Tantalus's Torment by Bernard Picart Sold
15.- Deucalion and Pyrrha Repeople the World by Throwing Stones Behind Them by Bernard Picart Sold   41.- The Argonauts Pass the Symplegades by Bernard Picart Sold
16.- Enceladus Buried under Mount Aetna (Etna) by Bernard Picart Available   42.- The Danaids Condemned to Fill Bored Vessels with Water by Bernard Picart Available
17.- Glaucus Changed into a Sea-God by Bernard Picart Available   43.- The Death of Hercules by Bernard Picart Sold
18.- Hell (Tartarus) by Bernard Picart Available   44.- The Deluge by Bernard Picart Sold
19.- Hercules's Combat with the Hydra by Bernard Picart Available   45.- The Dioscuri, or Castor and Pollux, the Guardians of Mariners by Bernard Picart Sold
20.- Ixion's Wheel by Bernard Picart Available   46.- The Fall of Icarus by Bernard Picart Sold
21.- Io Changed into a Cow: Mercury Cuts off Argus's Head by Bernard Picart Available   47.- The Giants Attempt to Scale Heaven by Piling Mountains upon One Another by Bernard Picart Available
22.- Leucothoe is Seduced by Apollo in the Shape of Eurynome by Bernard Picart Available   48.- The Golden Fleece Won by Jason by Bernard Picart Sold
23.- Lycaon Metamorphosed into a Wolf by Bernard Picart Available   49.- The Moon and Endymion by Bernard Picart Sold
24.- Meleager Presents the Boar's Head to Atalanta by Bernard Picart Sold   50.- The Palladium by Bernard Picart Available
25.- Memnon's Statue by Bernard Picart Available   51.- Tithonus, Aurora's Husband, Turned into a Grass-Hopper by Bernard Picart Sold
26.- Narcissus is Changed into a Flower by Bernard Picart Sold   52.- Ulysses and his Companions Avoid the Charms of the Sirens by Bernard Picart Available

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