Arithmetique

Reference: S9046
Author Pierre BREBIETTE
Year: 1640 ca.
Measures: 325 x 70 mm
€225.00

Reference: S9046
Author Pierre BREBIETTE
Year: 1640 ca.
Measures: 325 x 70 mm
€225.00

Description

Allegory of Arithmetic from the series The Liberal Arts. On the left, putti carry a cartouche with arithmetic figures. At right, putti surround the figure of Arithmetic, each carrying an instrument.

Etching and engraving, signed in plate at lower right: P Brebiette. fecit IN. At lower left we find the imprint le Blond excud. Auec priuilege.

Inscribed in the center, with the title: ARITHMETIQVE. On either side of the title is a commentary: Les Atomes volants et les sablons lybiques - Peuvent estre nombres dedans l'arithmetique.

Example in the second state of two, with Le Blond's address replacing Augustin Quesnel's previous one.

Beautiful proof, richly toned, printed on contemporary laid virgin paper, trimmed at marginal line, minimal restorations to corners, abrasions to verso, otherwise in good condition.

Relatively little is known about Pierre Brebiette's early life and artistic formation. By January 1617 he was living in Rome, where he remained until 1625. In Italy Brebiette was closely associated with the painter-etcher Claude Vignon and the print publisher and paintings dealer Francois Langlois, called Ciartres; they remained friends for life. Although one painting has been identified, Brebiette was primarily a graphic artist, and a number of fine drawings and nearly 300 prints by him are known. His etched oeuvre includes genre, mythological, and religious subjects. Brebiette was likely to have been introduced to etching in Rome; his work reflects the style and techniques of Italian etchers there: Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), Orazio Borgianni (about 1578-1616), and Ottavio Leoni (1578-1630). In Italy some of Brebiette's prints reproduced paintings by such Renaissance masters as Andrea del Sarto and Paolo Veronese, and more recent Roman painters including Cesare d'Arpino.

Bibliografia

Weigert (Roger-Armand), Inventaire du fonds français. Graveurs du XVIIe siècle, t. II [Boulanger (Jean) - Chauveau (François)], Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, 1951. (IFF 166-170.); Herman Sandrine, Estampes françaises du XVIIe siècle. Une donation au musée des beaux-arts de Nancy, Editions du CTHS, Paris, 2008 (n. 290.3., p.102).

Pierre BREBIETTE (Nantes 1598 – Roma 1650 circa)

Relatively little is known about Pierre Brebiette's early life and artistic formation. His father was a clerk of the court in the jurisdiction of Varennes near Brie-Comte-Robert, and the artist owned property in Coulommiers. He could have learned from observing the ongoing decoration of the palace of Fontainebleau. By January 1617 he was living in Rome, where he remained until 1625. In Italy Brebiette was closely associated with the painter-etcher Claude Vignon and the print publisher and paintings dealer Francois Langlois, called Ciartres; they remained friends for life. He was married in Paris in January 1626 to Louise, the daughter of the poet Louis de Neufgermain, whose patron was Gaston d'Orleans, younger brother of Louis XIII. Vignon witnessed the marriage, became a godparent to their son in 1631, and helped to value Brebiette's artistic estate at the time of his death in 1650. Although one painting has been identified, Brebiette was primarily a graphic artist, and a number of fine drawings and nearly 300 prints by him are known. His etched oeuvre includes genre, mythological, and religious subjects. Brebiette was likely to have been introduced to etching in Rome; his work reflects the style and techniques of Italian etchers there: Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), Orazio Borgianni (about 1578-1616), and Ottavio Leoni (1578-1630). In Italy some of Brebiette's prints reproduced paintings by such Renaissance masters as Andrea del Sarto and Paolo Veronese, and more recent Roman painters including Cesare d'Arpino. Others developed themes derived from ancient pagan subjects. By 1624 he had mastered the medium, and after his return to Paris he was in demand as an etcher, receiving commissions for religious subjects and book illustrations. Few of Brebiette's prints bear dates; they range from 1624 to 1640. The majority were designed and executed in a spirited personal style that combines mannerist grace with Northern realism an whismsical humor. Since he was one of the early seventeenth century's most original printmakers, it is surprising that no catalogue raisonné of Brebiette's has been published.

Pierre BREBIETTE (Nantes 1598 – Roma 1650 circa)

Relatively little is known about Pierre Brebiette's early life and artistic formation. His father was a clerk of the court in the jurisdiction of Varennes near Brie-Comte-Robert, and the artist owned property in Coulommiers. He could have learned from observing the ongoing decoration of the palace of Fontainebleau. By January 1617 he was living in Rome, where he remained until 1625. In Italy Brebiette was closely associated with the painter-etcher Claude Vignon and the print publisher and paintings dealer Francois Langlois, called Ciartres; they remained friends for life. He was married in Paris in January 1626 to Louise, the daughter of the poet Louis de Neufgermain, whose patron was Gaston d'Orleans, younger brother of Louis XIII. Vignon witnessed the marriage, became a godparent to their son in 1631, and helped to value Brebiette's artistic estate at the time of his death in 1650. Although one painting has been identified, Brebiette was primarily a graphic artist, and a number of fine drawings and nearly 300 prints by him are known. His etched oeuvre includes genre, mythological, and religious subjects. Brebiette was likely to have been introduced to etching in Rome; his work reflects the style and techniques of Italian etchers there: Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), Orazio Borgianni (about 1578-1616), and Ottavio Leoni (1578-1630). In Italy some of Brebiette's prints reproduced paintings by such Renaissance masters as Andrea del Sarto and Paolo Veronese, and more recent Roman painters including Cesare d'Arpino. Others developed themes derived from ancient pagan subjects. By 1624 he had mastered the medium, and after his return to Paris he was in demand as an etcher, receiving commissions for religious subjects and book illustrations. Few of Brebiette's prints bear dates; they range from 1624 to 1640. The majority were designed and executed in a spirited personal style that combines mannerist grace with Northern realism an whismsical humor. Since he was one of the early seventeenth century's most original printmakers, it is surprising that no catalogue raisonné of Brebiette's has been published.