Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736-1810) Jean-Jacques de Boissieu, portrait de l’auteur. 1796. Eau-forte, pointe sèche et roulette. À vue: 320 x375mm. Boissieu-Perez 102; Regency to Empire 112. Belle épreuve sur vergé, du 4e état (sur 8), avant remplacement du portrait de l’épouse de l’artiste par un paysage, rognée au coup de planche puis collée sur chine contrecollé sur vélin. Petites rousseurs claires. Quelques infimes éraflures en surface (dans la tête de marbre, à proximité du portrait de la femme). «The various states of Portrait de l’Auteur document an intriguing artistic change rather than additions for mere refinement. The first state is pure etching […] In the second and third states, the artist gradually added drypoint and roulette shading. In his self-portrait, de Boissieu holds a copperplate on which a portrait of his wife is drawn. While he was working on this print, his wife died, and in the fifth state, he substituted a landscape with a cow for her portrait. […] In addition to the intimate glimpse of his wife, de Boissieu portrays himself with objects relating to his profession and education, including a pen, a book, a bust from a figure in the Laocoön, and such engraving tools as an etching needle and a scraper. This image is deservedly regarded as one of the artist’s finest prints…» (J. McKean Fisher, in V. I. Carlson and J. W. Ittmann éd., Regency to Empire, French Printmaking 1715-1814, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1984, p.310).