Tomb with Sphinxes and an Owl
Originally trained as an architect, Louis Jean Desprez produced this print depicting a tomb while living in Rome. He combined details observed while visiting catacombs in southern Italy with macabre inventions, such as the pair of feet visible from within the sculptural space. Desprez creatively used aquatint—a printmaking technique that produces shades of gray—to render the space’s dramatic shadows and stone surfaces.
Details
- Palette
-
Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- aquatint with etching
- Dimensions
- platemark: height 0.34 m, width 0.487 m; sheet: height 0.35 m, width 0.503 m
- Origin
- France, 18th century
- Department
- Prints
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Severance and Greta Millikin Trust
Art Genome Taxonomy
9 tags
Subject Matter
-
Mortality Both · 94%
The title and catalog description identify a tomb and macabre inventions; the image shows a funerary chamber, bone-like forms, and feet visible within the central opening.
-
Antiquity as Subject Both · 78%
The title names sphinxes, and the image presents Egyptianizing funerary sculpture and a monumental tomb-like structure as its central subject.
Visual Qualities
-
Dark Colors Visual · 91%
The image is dominated by dark brown, black, and gray tonal areas, with restricted pale highlights on the masonry, monument, and bone-like forms.
Medium and Techniques
-
Prints Metadata · 99%
The museum classifies the work as a print and places it in the Prints department.
-
Etching/Engraving Metadata · 99%
The catalog identifies the medium as aquatint with etching.
-
Work on Paper Both · 96%
The work is cataloged as a print with separate platemark and sheet dimensions, and the image presents a printed impression on a sheet.
-
Chiaroscuro Both · 92%
The catalog describes aquatint as producing shades of gray for dramatic shadows, while the image relies on pronounced tonal contrast between the dark vault and lighter masonry and sculptural forms.
Time Periods
-
18th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The work is dated c. 1779–84 and identified as made in France in the 18th century.
Geographic Regions
-
French Art Metadata · 99%
The artist is identified as French and the place of origin is France.
Source & rights
Louis Jean Desprez (French, 1743–1804). Tomb with Sphinxes and an Owl. Cleveland Museum of Art.