Rubens' Son and Nurse - Richard Earlom

A fine 1775 mezzotint by Richard Earlom, depicting a nurse and child surrounded by a bounty of fruit, after an original painting by Peter Paul Rubens.

This mezzotint by Richard Earlom, published in 1775, reproduces a painting attributed to Peter Paul Rubens. Earlom was a master of the mezzotint technique, a method of printmaking that allows for subtle gradations of tone and light. By using a rocker to roughen the copper plate, he achieved the velvety blacks and soft highlights seen here, which translate the painterly qualities of the original oil work into a monochrome medium.

The composition depicts a nurse attending to a young boy, who reaches towards a basket of grapes. The scene is filled with an abundance of produce, including melons, artichokes, and various fruits, arranged on and beneath a stone table. This arrangement reflects the seventeenth-century interest in still-life elements, often used to demonstrate the technical skill of the artist in rendering different textures and surfaces. The nurse, dressed in period attire, provides a human element to the display of nature's bounty.

Earlom was commissioned by John Boydell to create a series of prints after works in the collection of the Earl of Bute. This specific print demonstrates the precision required to capture the varied surfaces of the fruit and the soft fabric of the nurse's clothing. The print serves as a record of the original painting, which was highly regarded in the eighteenth century for its composition and subject matter. The inclusion of the fruit in the foreground provides a sense of weight and volume, contrasting with the more delicate features of the figures. The work remains a fine example of the high standard of reproductive printmaking in Britain during the late eighteenth century, showcasing the technical mastery of the engraver in translating colour and texture into a range of grey tones.