c. 1720

Old Man, Shepherd, and Woman with a Child

Italian, 1659 - 1734

Sebastiano Ricci's work as a history painter had great influence on the next generation of Venetian artists, especially Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. A popular artist, Ricci found employment throughout Italy, as well as in France and England. The few etchings he made during his career exist only in limited numbers. The inscription written by an eighteenth-century French collector along the bottom margin of this print notes that it is an extremely rare etching by Ricci on tin (or pewter), rather than copper, the usual material for printing plates.