A Family at Terracina

Corot's twelve lithographs published as Douze Croquis were made by the process of transfer lithography, whereby the artist makes his drawing on paper rather than directly on the lithographic stone. The image on paper is then transferred to the stone's surface. The Douze Croquis embodied the aesthetic of the lithography revival of the 1870s, when lithography was seen as a means to multiply drawings rather than as a medium to be exploited for its own unique resources. This portfolio was one of the first to be marketed in a limited edition (of 50), which gave the publication the cachet of "rarity" and also ensured uniformly high printing quality.