Gabriel Batalla-Lagleyre: Henry Avice, Engineer to the King and First French Engraver of Poussin's Works

Prints made before the second half of the 1650s after the paintings of Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) are very rare. Among these, L'Adoration des Mages and the Jeu de Petits Enfants executed before 1643 by Henry Avice (ca. 1615-1680) stand out due both to their early date and the singular aspect of their author, who was an engineer to the king and an amateur engraver, better idendfied thanks to recent discoveries. The objective of this study is to clarify the place of these neglected prints, probably the first ones made after the paintings of the great French master to appear in Paris, and to reevaluate their importance. In so doing, this article should lead to a better understanding of the visual as well as technical culture of an engineer, his relationship to the arts; and conversely, the expectations that determined Poussin's reception in France at the crucial moment of his stay in Paris.