Plate 27 from the series ‘Fragments choisis dans les peintures et les tableaux les plus intéressants des palais et des églises de l'Italie, troisième suite, Bologne’ [Selected Fragments from the Most Interesting Paintings and Pictures from the Palaces and Churches of Italy, Third Suite, Bologna], known as the Fragments Choisis, this project encompassed six series, comprising two hundred aquatints in all. The plates were etched in aquatint by abbé de Saint-Non, an early use of the technique.
Saint-Non became an ordained but non-practicing priest as per the wishes of his family. However, from 1752 his interest turned to art and especially printmaking. Like many amateurs of that period, he learned to etch and produced his first print in 1753. With his family wealth, Saint-Non was able to become an important patron and was elected an honorary associate of the French Academy in 1776. During his sojourn in Italy from 1759 to 1761, he befriended Jean Honoré Fragonard and Hubert Robert (both artists at the French Academy in Rome at the time). Fragonard accompanied Saint-Non on a five-month return trip to Paris. During these trips, they both sought out beautiful things to see and record. The drawings were done quickly, on a small scale and without much details. Some represent entire compositions, but many pick out small details, individual figures, or heads. Fragonard’s sketches stayed in Saint-Non’s possession and many of them were translated into prints, etched and aquatinted by Saint-Non with the help of a professional printmaker Jean-Baptiste Delafosse (French, 1721-1806). Saint-Non was among the very first artists to take up the new process. In all, Saint Non’s oeuvre totals 366 prints, three-quarters of which are aquatints.
