Versified Prints: A Literary and Cultural Phenomenon in Eighteenth-Century France

The term ‘versified prints’ is used to describe images that are accompanied by poetic explanatory text. They were immensely popular and diffused throughout Europe in the eighteenth century, and many were shown at the Salon du Louvre. Although not all print verses are signed, their authors include occasional poets and members of the Académie Française. These prints remain among the most accessible documents for the study of art and society, but have never been examined before for their histo...