The Pilgrims

Reference: S42681
Author Marcantonio RAIMONDI
Year: 1508 ca.
Measures: 120 x 150 mm
€925.00

Reference: S42681
Author Marcantonio RAIMONDI
Year: 1508 ca.
Measures: 120 x 150 mm
€925.00

Description

Engraving, circa 1508/1509, without signature. Example of the second state of two with the Antonio Salamanca imprint added at lower left.

A good impression, printed on laid paper, trimmed to the platemark, very good condition. 

Copy in reverse after Lucas van Leyden's engraving (Bartsch VII.418.149), the only entire composition by Lucas copied by Marcantonio Raimondi. According to Shoemaker, Marcantonio did not yet fully understand the fine delicacy of Lucas's burin work and made too strong contrasts. Bartsch only described this state, however, there is an earlier state without the publisher's address.

“Between ca. 1508 and 1517, Marcantonio borrowed numerous motifs and portions of the background from the engravings of the Dutch printmaker, Lucas van Leyden. The Pilgrims is the only entire composition of Lucas's that Marcantonio ever copied. He made the copy in reverse, and although he followed all of the major forms, making only a few minor alterations, he did not precisely follow Lucas's burin work. Marcantonio left out Lucas's monogram from the bottom left of his print, and did not add his own to the copy. Lucas's engraving of The Pilgrims (B.VII, n. 149) has been dated ca. 1505-08. Probably Marcantonio's copy dates around 1508-09 (Passavant dates the engraving ca. 1509, during Marcantonio’s stay in Venice; Delaborde dated it about 1508); certainly it was done before 1510, when he used the background from Lucas's Mohammed and the Monk in The Climbers, a work that shows a more sophisticated understanding of Lucas's style and technique. In The Pilgrims, Marcantonio does not yet fully understand the fine delicacy of Lucas's burin work and his silvery tonalities. Rather than emulating Lucas's subtle modulations of tone and convincing sense of volume, Marcantonio makes strong contrasts of dark and light and uses coarser, more varied strokes that break up the continuity of the volumes. Marcantonio emphasizes and even outlines the areas of deep shadow, such as the shadow beneath the woman's foot and the folds of her drapery. In 1510, when Marcantonio copied the background of Lucas's Mohammed and the Monk in his engraving of The Climbers he seemed to emulate better the fineness of Lucas's burin work, although he was never to reproduce fully the subtle tonal qualities of Lucas's engravings” (cf. H. Shoemaker, The engravings of Marcantonio Raimondi, p. 80).

A very rare work. 

Bibliografia

Bartsch, Le Peintre graveur (Raimondi, n. 462); Passavant VI.40.253; Delaborde 1888, n. 309; Shoemaker 1981, n. 14; Gramaccini and Meier 2009, n. 52.

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.