Artwork

Title Page: Oval Design from the Church of San Michele de Bosco, Bologna

Jean-Claude-Richard, Abbé de Saint-Non , 1772

Title Page: Oval Design from the Church of San Michele de Bosco, Bologna is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Jean-Claude-Richard, Abbé de Saint-Non. It dates from 1772 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

The work titled “Title Page: Oval Design from the Church of San Michele de Bosco, Bologna” is an 1772 print by the French abbé Jean‑Claude‑Richard Saint‑Non. Executed as an etching with a sepia wash, the image consists of a faint oval frame surrounding an empty central field, the paper itself bearing a warm brown tone.

Subject & Meaning

The composition functions as a decorative title page rather than a narrative scene. The delicate oval border, rendered in fine, slightly blurred lines, suggests a modest, ornamental approach appropriate for a printed frontispiece, perhaps intended to introduce a larger work related to the Bolognese church.

Technique & Style

The print is a counterproof, produced by pressing a freshly inked etching onto a second sheet of paper. This process reverses the image, rendering the etched lines as lighter marks against the sepia‑toned ground. The method preserves the crispness of the original incisions while avoiding additional carving, and the sepia wash adds a uniform, warm coloration to the sheet.

History & Provenance

Created in the late eighteenth century, the print is now part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Its attribution to Saint‑Non, a cleric known for occasional printmaking, situates the piece within the broader tradition of ecclesiastical publishing and decorative print design of the period.