The Organ Grinder with a Magic Lantern - Anne Claude de Thubières, comte de Caylus

An eighteenth-century etching depicting a street performer with a barrel organ, based on a design by Edmé Bouchardon.

This etching depicts a street performer, a figure common in the urban life of eighteenth-century Paris. The work is part of a series of prints after drawings by Edmé Bouchardon, whose 'Cris de Paris' (Cries of Paris) series documented the various trades and itinerant workers of the city. The comte de Caylus, a significant antiquarian and amateur printmaker, produced this plate to capture the visual character of the period.

The composition focuses on a young woman carrying a portable organ, or barrel organ, suspended by a strap across her shoulder. Beside her, a magic lantern is positioned, suggesting her role as a travelling entertainer. The artist employs a clean, linear etching style, using hatching to define the folds of the woman's simple clothing and the texture of the stone wall behind her. The lighting is direct, casting a shadow that grounds the figure within the space.

Bouchardon, the original draughtsman, was known for his observational approach to the working classes. By translating these drawings into etchings, Caylus helped disseminate these images to a wider audience of collectors and art enthusiasts. The print provides a glimpse into the social history of the era, documenting the tools and attire of those who made their living on the streets. The work is notable for its clarity and its focus on the mundane realities of daily life, avoiding the theatricality often associated with the Rococo period. It remains a precise record of historical costume and the itinerant professions that populated the French capital during the mid-eighteenth century.