Actors at the Hotel de Bourgogne

Actors at the Hotel de Bourgogne

Abraham Bosse

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This print depicts six actors from a troupe of comedians led by Robert Guérin appear on stage at the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. The play depicted is unknown, but the characters can be identified as Turlupin (a roguish valet played by Henri Legrand), an old man (played by Gaultier-Garguille) and Gros Guillaume (the fat clown played by Guérin). Their characters are loosely based on those of Italian Comedy.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Actors at the Hotel de BourgogneActors at the Hotel de BourgogneActors at the Hotel de BourgogneActors at the Hotel de BourgogneActors at the Hotel de Bourgogne

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.