Melancholy

Etching and engraving, c. 1729/40, on contemporary laid paper. In perfect condition.

Engraved by Bernard Lépicié, after Henri Simon Thomassin after a painting executed c.1618 by

Domenico Fetti, acquired by Louis XIV in 1685, and now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. 281). .

The plate is from the series "Recueil d'estampes d'après les plus beaux tableaux et d'après les plus beaux desseins qui sont en France".
Also known as 'Recueil Crozat', is a series of plates commissioned by the collector Pierre Crozat and reproducing famous paintings and drawings of the era; 140 plates were published in 1729. A second volume formed by 42 prints (instead of the 110 plates initially planned) was issued in 1740.
After Crozat's death, the plates were sold to a company of booksellers who commissioned Mariette to reorganize the 'Recueil'; Mariette divided the plates into two volumes, added some missing descriptions, and advertised the set to the public in 1742.
In 1764, Basan bought the plates and the text, and republished the 'Recueil', but replaced the woodcuts by intaglio prints. Basan also published the 45 plates reproducing the Italian paintings from the collection of the Duc d'Orléans in a volume entitled 'Recueil d'après la gallerie du palais royal'