Nereids and Triton

Nereids are nymphs of the sea. If this threesome seems distracted by nothingness, it is because this print is based on a preparatory drawing for a small part of a large painting in which they are bit players in a crowded scene. In the painting they observe the sun god Apollo rising from the sea. In the 18th century, it became fashionable to decorate with framed drawings, such as the red chalk study in which François Boucher worked out the design for these figures. Printmakers soon developed methods to imitate the textures and tones of drawings so that many people could decorate with close approximations of prized drawings.