copperplate engraving, etching, handmade paper, sheet dimensions 47x28.5 cm, signed lower left: B. Picart direx and B. Picart del. 1730
A similar work is in the collection of the British Museum.
The engraving depicts a classical vision of the underworld from Greek and Roman mythology. In the foreground, Charon is seen steering a boat full of damned souls on the River Styx, while in the background, Dantean scenes featuring sinners unfold.
The series, published in Amsterdam in 1733 by bookseller Zacharias Chatelain, was not an entirely new artistic project but rather a brilliant, lavish remake. The entire visual concept was based on the 17th-century edition of *Tableaux du Temple des Muses* (Paris, 1655), for which the drawings were created by the Flemish Baroque master Abraham van Diepenbeeck and engraved by the legendary Cornelis Bloemaert. Bernard Picart took van Diepenbeeck’s compositions and breathed new life into them. Interestingly, the prints in this series were produced using two separate copperplate engravings: Bloemaert’s central matrices were cleaned and supplemented, while Picart designed and engraved entirely new, exceptionally rich, ornamental frames (borders) that surround each scene.
Bernard Picart (1673–1733) was an outstanding French copperplate engraver, draftsman, and illustrator who became one of the key figures of the European Enlightenment. He was born in Paris into an artistic family—his father, Étienne Picart, was a renowned royal engraver. Bernard studied at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpturein Paris , under Charles Le Brun, among others. Although he initially worked in Paris, as a Huguenot (Protestant) he faced religious restrictions in France. Following the tragic death of his first wife and children in 1710, he decided to leave the country permanently and settle in Amsterdam. There he remarried Anna Vincent, who helped him manage his business affairs. He became one of the most prolific and respected illustrators of his time, collaborating with leading publishers. Picart gained fame for his monumental series of prints, which combined artistic precision with encyclopedic ambitions. His most famous work is *Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde* (1723–1743), created in collaboration with Jean-Frédéric Bernard. It consisted of hundreds of engravings depicting religious rites from around the world (including, unique for that time, objective depictions of Jewish and Islamic rituals). Equally famous is the series *Le Temple des Muses* (The Temple of the Muses) (1733). It is a series of 60 engravings illustrating mythological scenes from Ovid’s*Metamorphoses *.
