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Mascarade à la Grecque; Suite des Vases; and [Cheminées], designed by Petitot

Met curator Femke Speelberg on fantasy in Mascarade à la Grecque; Suite des Vases; and [Cheminées], designed by Ennemond Alexandre Petitot and etched and published by Benigno Bossi,  1771, 1764.

View this work on metmuseum.org.

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Created by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Video transcript

This series by Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, a French designer, and the Italian etcher, Benigno Bossi, consists of eight designs for very elaborate costumes all made up out of architectural elements, which are not meant to be worn. These etchings describe a certain period in eighteenth-century history, when everyone went crazy over Greek architecture and Greek ornament. Things that were not Greek were not hip. And they call that period the go没t grec, the Greek taste. This originated from a protest against the rococo, which was very whimsical. Instead of bringing back order, everyone went crazy over Greek architecture now. He is making fun of this go没t grec. There are four couples meant to represent different layers of society: the shepherd and shepherdess, the clergy, the bride and groom, the sutler--who feeds the men in the military, the grenadier or guard. The architectural elements morph together to form the human figure. The shepherd seems to be parts of a ceiling. The sutler is made up of an oven. The bride, her arms turn into handles, elaborately decorated with garlands, with sheep's heads, reminiscent of avant-garde fashion. The last print is a self-portrait of Petitot. He has depicted himself as an architect, also as an ancient priest. This is the age of theater and the age of imagination. These are really masterpieces of ingenuity that display the human inclination towards fantasy. That's what I love about works on paper: the only restriction is your own genius.