This item is a steel engraving from the etching by J.L. Meissonier called “THE STUDENT.”  It was engraved by the artist.  The engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 6 ½” x 4 ¼”, and is matted to 11” x 14” for easy framing.

     Unless we are mistaken, this engraving is from a picture which Meissonier painted about 1841, and called ‘the Reader,’ a more appropriate title, perhaps, than that which has since been given to it; for this gentleman - a good specimen of the higher classes of the 18th century - looks less a student than a reader, though his mind is evidently intent on the book he peruses.  There is an easy, nonchalant, but at the same time rather elegant air about the position in which the figure is placed, that shows the artist is an accomplished “student” of the form, whatever position it may assume.  Though the man is seated somewhat awry on his tapestried chair, the lines are by no means ungraceful, and the whole of the upper part of the figure is disposed as naturally as artistically: even the lappets of the coat show elegance in the curvature of the lines.

     The reader’s face, as it is bent down over his book, is most intelligent; and though we cannot see the eyes, which are always assumed to be the light of the mind, there is no disputing the fact that the man here presented to us is one of some considerable mental caliber.  An attractive and impressive peculiarity of Meissonier’s compositions, whether of a single figure or of a group in the interest he always manages to give to the face: there are about them a realty, a life, and a character, that show the painter to be a man of keen and shrewd observation in all the varieties of human physiognomy, and equally skilful in delineating them, whatever the expression assumed.

    The engraving, though slight, sustains the character and effect of the original, quite as much as if it were highly finished.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes, which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates.  Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence.  This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.  Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, and lithographs are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one.  Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated, thus giving the buyer an idea of its age.