Marcus Curtius

Reference: S36032
Author Marcantonio RAIMONDI
Year: 1510 ca.
Measures: 117 x 166 mm
€2,200.00

Reference: S36032
Author Marcantonio RAIMONDI
Year: 1510 ca.
Measures: 117 x 166 mm
€2,200.00

Description

Engraving, not dated or signed, inscribed on a banderole at top: 'CVRTIVS'. First state of two, before the Antonio Salamanca’ address. From the series “The four Roman Knights”.

A good impression, printed on contemporary laid paper with watermark “circle with three five-points stars”, trimmed close to platemark, an overfold in the upper-left, generally in very good condition.

The engraving belongs to a series of four known as "Knights" or "Four Knights Romans", drawn and engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi.

Delaborde first suggested Marcantonio also as author of the drawings, an opinion that was unanimously accepted: Hirth proposed the name of Baldassarre Peruzzi and Fiocco that of Jacopo Ripanda.

Concerning the realization of the engravings, Bartsch, Passavant and Delaborde consider the series one of the early Raimondi's works, engraved before the Roman stay; Jebens dates them to 1506, because of formal analogies with "Love and the Three Putti" dated Septembe 18th, 1506.

According Hirth and Fiocco the plates were engraved at the beginning of the Roman stay, when Raimondi met artists such as Peruzzi and Ripanda.

Undoubtedly, Raimondi was also the author of the compositions and to support this hypothesis is both the technical-graphic language (it is possible to grasp analogies with "Crouching Venus") and the type of archaeological culture, which obviously refers to unidentified ancient models.

The Curtius is very similar to Nicoletto da Modena's Roman Warrior (circa 1507). In both cases, it is evident a reworking of ancient knights drawn from scenes of battles Undoubtedly the cultural environment in which the drawings were produced was that of the northern cultural koinè in Rome, characterized by the archaeological passion, in which also worked Ripanda and Nicoletto da Modena.

Provenance:
KUNSTHALLE (Musée des Beaux-Arts), Brême. Lugt 293.
Jean Boman. Lugt 1417.

Literature

Bartsch XIV.155.191; Faietti – Oberhuber, n. 38. pp. 169 - 171

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.

Literature

Bartsch XIV.155.191; Faietti – Oberhuber, n. 38. pp. 169 - 171

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.