A Censer ("The Scent Box of François I")

Reference: S42520
Author Marcantonio RAIMONDI
Year: 1518 ca.
Measures: 219 x 324 mm
€1,500.00

Reference: S42520
Author Marcantonio RAIMONDI
Year: 1518 ca.
Measures: 219 x 324 mm
€1,500.00

Description

Engraving, 1518-1520 circa, monogramatic device of an empty tablet lower left.

Example in its second state, with the Salamanca excudit lower right: Ant. Sal. exc. Supposedly copied after a designed by Raphael.

Two women standing back to back supporting a censer adorned with salamanders and fleur-de-lis

Since Vasari, who names the censer among the works of Agostino Veneziano (V, p. 415), it is believed that the engraving takes up a drawing by Raphael for goldsmith work; only Bianchi (in Raphael, p. 689, note 265) thinks of Giulio Romano from a drawing by Raphael.

The prototype for the top of the object is the fountain supported by Sileni at the Museo Pio Clementino in the Vatican, while the lower part of the design derives from a Venus Genetrix drawing by Raphael now in the Albertina, Vienna (inv. 179).

The presence of the lilies and salamanders has led to the conclusion that the censer was intended for Francis I; it may have been sent to France as a gift from Leo X and Lorenzo de' Medici, along with Raphael's Saint Michael and the Holy Family, in 1518, although it is not certain that the object was ever made. Presumable is at least a dating of the project to 1518-1519; the engraving should date from the same period.

According to Gnann, Raimondi's engraving would not be based on Raphael's drawing but on the engraving made by Marco Dente - which is in counterpart, to which he makes slight variations and in which the censer is lower by about five millimeters.

The popularity of the Incensiere is demonstrated, among other things, by the engraving of Enea Vico representing a candelabrum, in which this container is replicated. 

Bibliografia

Bartsch XIV.363.489; Delaborde 1887, no. 213; Raphael Invenit, p. 267, n. III.3; Bianchi, Raffaello, p. 689, nota 265; Gnann, Roma e lo stile classico di Raffello, p. 223 n. 153

Marcantonio RAIMONDI (Sant'Andrea in Argine 1480 circa - Bologna 1534)

Marcantonio Raimondi is considered the greatest engraver of early Renaissance and the first to spread the work of Raphael. He was born in San’Andrea in Argine, near Bologna. His first artistic apprenticeship took place in Bologna, around 1504, in the workshop of Francesco Francia, painter and goldsmith. His first known engraving is dated 1505. In 1506 he went to Venice to live and work; in this year, he started developing his own personal style for, in his production of that period, is quite evident the influence of Mantegna and Dürer. According to Vasari, Raimondi met Dürer in Venice, for they were both living there at the same time, but they had a quarrel over the reproductions, on copper, of Dürer’s seventeen woodcuts of the Vita della Vergine. After 1507, he turned to different models, especially those coming from Rome and Florence. He was in Rome in 1509, where he was introduced into the circle of the most important artists working in the City, such as Jacopo Rimanda from Bologna. In the same year he met Rapahel in the workshop of Baviera; the following year Raimondi became popular as the main interpreter of Raphael’s paintings. The Lucrezia can be considered the starting point of their cooperation and a sort of second beginning for Raimondi’s new style. In any case, together with the engravings representing Raphael’s works, Raimondi went on with the publication of his own subjects, especially antiquity, whose influence can be seen in his whole production (cfr. Dubois-Reymond 1978). Between 1515-1516 Marcantonio started showing a keen interest for chiaroscuro, maybe under the influence fo Agostino Veneziano and Marco Dente, from Baviera’s workshop. Till Raphael’s death, in 1520, Raimondi worked and lived in the background of the great artist from Urbino and engraved his works and those of his scholars. His business went down after the Sacco (sack) Di Roma in 1527, when he was obliged to pay a huge amount of money to the invaders of the City to save his life. He died in Bologna before 1534, in complete misery.

Marcantonio RAIMONDI (Sant'Andrea in Argine 1480 circa - Bologna 1534)

Marcantonio Raimondi is considered the greatest engraver of early Renaissance and the first to spread the work of Raphael. He was born in San’Andrea in Argine, near Bologna. His first artistic apprenticeship took place in Bologna, around 1504, in the workshop of Francesco Francia, painter and goldsmith. His first known engraving is dated 1505. In 1506 he went to Venice to live and work; in this year, he started developing his own personal style for, in his production of that period, is quite evident the influence of Mantegna and Dürer. According to Vasari, Raimondi met Dürer in Venice, for they were both living there at the same time, but they had a quarrel over the reproductions, on copper, of Dürer’s seventeen woodcuts of the Vita della Vergine. After 1507, he turned to different models, especially those coming from Rome and Florence. He was in Rome in 1509, where he was introduced into the circle of the most important artists working in the City, such as Jacopo Rimanda from Bologna. In the same year he met Rapahel in the workshop of Baviera; the following year Raimondi became popular as the main interpreter of Raphael’s paintings. The Lucrezia can be considered the starting point of their cooperation and a sort of second beginning for Raimondi’s new style. In any case, together with the engravings representing Raphael’s works, Raimondi went on with the publication of his own subjects, especially antiquity, whose influence can be seen in his whole production (cfr. Dubois-Reymond 1978). Between 1515-1516 Marcantonio started showing a keen interest for chiaroscuro, maybe under the influence fo Agostino Veneziano and Marco Dente, from Baviera’s workshop. Till Raphael’s death, in 1520, Raimondi worked and lived in the background of the great artist from Urbino and engraved his works and those of his scholars. His business went down after the Sacco (sack) Di Roma in 1527, when he was obliged to pay a huge amount of money to the invaders of the City to save his life. He died in Bologna before 1534, in complete misery.