ITALIAN ENGRAVING:THE FLORENTINES

ENGRAVING in Italy differs, in many essentials, from the art as practised in Germany. Germany may claim priority in point of time, but it is doubtful whether the Florentines—for in Florence, and among the goldsmiths, the art took its rise in Italy—in the beginning were influenced by, or even acquainted with, the work of their northern contemporaries. In Germany the designer and the engraver were one, and some of the greatest masters embodied their finest conceptions in their prints. We may truly say that the world-wide reputation which Dürer and Schongauer have enjoyed for four centuries and more, rests almost entirely upon their engraved, rather than upon their painted, work.

In Italy it was otherwise. There, with a few signal exceptions, engraving was used merely as a convenient method of multiplying an existing design. It may be that we owe to this fact both the color of the ink used in these early Florentine prints, and the method of taking impressions. This would seem, in many cases, to be by rubbing rather than by theuse of the roller press, which appears to have been known and used in the North substantially from the very beginning. The Florentine, aiming to duplicate a drawing in silver-point or wash, would naturally endeavor to approximate the color of his original. Consequently we do not find the lustrous black impressions, strongly printed, which are the prize of the collector of early German engravings.

Vasari’s story of the invention of engraving byMaso Finiguerra(1426-1464) was long ago disproved, and for a time it seemed as though Finiguerra and his work were likely to be consigned to that limbo of the legendary from which Baldini—at one time accredited with many prints—is only just now emerging. Yet Finiguerra, although not the “inventor” of the art, is, beyond peradventure, the most important influence in early Italian engraving, not only on account of his own work on copper, but still more through the Picture-Chronicle, which served as an inspiration to the artists working in his School and continuing his tradition after his death. So that Vasari’s tale, though not accurate in the matter of fact, was veracious in the larger sense.

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. PROFILEPORTRAIT OF A LADYSize of the original engraving, 8⅞ × 5⅝ inchesIn the Royal Print Room, Berlin

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. PROFILEPORTRAIT OF A LADY

Size of the original engraving, 8⅞ × 5⅝ inchesIn the Royal Print Room, Berlin

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. WILD ANIMALS HUNTINGAND FIGHTINGSize of the original engraving, 10⅛ × 14¾ inchesIn the British Museum

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. WILD ANIMALS HUNTINGAND FIGHTING

Size of the original engraving, 10⅛ × 14¾ inchesIn the British Museum

The Picture-Chronicle is a book of drawings illustrating the History of the World, and evidently proceeds from the hand and workshop of a Florentinegoldsmith-engraver of about 1460. It was acquired by the British Museum from Mr. Ruskin in 1888. The drawings are in pen and ink and wash, often reinforced with open pen-shading like that imitated later by the Broad Manner engravers. At its best the work has the true early Renaissance combination of archaic strength with attractive naiveté—the ornamental detail carried out with a masterly power of pen, and with the patient delight of one who is by instinct and training above all things a jeweler.

Finiguerra’s fame as the leading worker in niello was firmly established by 1450; and although we cannot assign certainly any engraving by him to a date earlier than 1460, there is a group of Florentine primitives which may be placed between the years 1450 and 1460, thus antedating Finiguerra’s first plate by about ten years. The most beautiful of these early prints in conception, and the purest in execution, is theProfile Portrait of a Lady, a single impression of which has come down to us and is now in Berlin. In style it recalls the paintings of Piero della Francesca, Verrocchio, Uccello, or Pollaiuolo, and although it would be unwise to attribute it to any known master, there is a sensitive quality in the drawing, and a restraint, which differentiates it from any other print of this period.

Among the engravings which may be by Finiguerrahimself, one of the most interesting is the plate ofWild Animals Hunting and Fighting, wherein we see a number of motives taken directly from the Picture-Chronicle—motives which reappear again and again in works undoubtedly by other hands. This print, as also theEncounter of a Hunting Party with a Family of Wild Folk, is unique. In the last-named we see a number of motives repeated from theWild Animals Hunting and Fighting: such as the boar being pulled down by two hounds, the hound chasing a hare, in the upper right corner; and the dog, slightly to the left, devouring the entrails of yet another hare.

TheRoad to Calvary and the Crucifixionis a far more elaborate and important composition, and in this engraving we see that which is especially noteworthy in theJudgment Hall of Pilate—the largest and most important of all the Fine Manner prints—the goldsmith’s love of ornament. In theJudgment Hall of Pilatethe head-dresses, and especially the armor, are highly elaborate, while the architecture itself is overlaid with ornate decoration directly drawn from the Picture-Chronicle. In the only known impression the plate seems to have been re-worked, in the Broad Manner, by a later hand.

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION OF BACCHUSAND ARIADNESize of the original engraving, 8⅛ × 22 inchesIn the British Museum(If supported click figure to enlarge.)

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION OF BACCHUSAND ARIADNE

Size of the original engraving, 8⅛ × 22 inchesIn the British Museum(If supported click figure to enlarge.)

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. JUPITERSize of the original engraving, 12⅝ × 8½ inchesIn the British Museum

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. JUPITER

Size of the original engraving, 12⅝ × 8½ inchesIn the British Museum

Somewhat later in date, by an engraver of the Finiguerra School, is theTriumphal Procession ofBacchus and Ariadne, the most joyous of all Florentine engravings. The original design was attributed at one time to Botticelli; and although, as Herbert P. Horne has shown, it cannot be by this master, it is similar in style to his compositions. Whatever the immediate original, it shows marked traces of classical influences, and its motive is directly derived from antique sculpture—a sarcophagus in all probability. “The splendid design has suffered not only from the feebleness of the engraving, but also from the florid manner in which the engraver has exaggerated some of the decorative details and added others.... In spite of the feebleness of its execution it remains an incomparably greater work of art than any other print in the Fine Manner.”[2]

[2]Sandro Botticelli. By Herbert P. Horne. London: George Bell & Sons. 1908. p. 84.

The Fine Manner, in which all of the engravings hitherto mentioned are executed, owes its name to the method employed. The engraver has incised his outlines upon the plate—probably unbeaten copper or some even softer metal—and for his shading has employed a system of delicate strokes, laid close to one another and overlaid with two, and, at times, three, sets of cross-hatching. Such engravings, when printed, as is usually the case, in a greenish or grayish ink, give a result similar to awash drawing. In the Broad Manner the style of engraving is based upon that of pen drawing, with open, diagonal shade strokes and without cross-hatching. The Broad Manner was finally developed by Pollaiuolo and Mantegna, who modified it by a series of delicate lines laid at an acute angle to the heavier shadings, blending the main lines into a harmonious whole.

“None of the sciences that descended from antiquity,” writes Arthur M. Hind,[3]“possessed a firmer hold on the popular imagination of the Middle Ages than that of Astrology. That science took as its foundation the ancient conception of the universe, with the earth as the centre round which all the heavenly bodies revolved in the space of a day and a night. Encircling the earth were the successive spheres of water, air, fire, the seven planets (Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn), the firmament with the constellations (thecœlum crystallinum), and the Primum Mobile. To each of the planets were ascribed attributes according to the traditional character of the deity whose name it bore, and these attributes were regarded as transmissible under certain conditions to mankind. The influence of the planets depended on their position in the heavens in respectof the various constellations, with which each had different relations. Each planet had what was called its ‘house’ in one of the constellations, and according to its position relative to these was said to be in the ‘ascendant’ or ‘descendant’. In regard to individual human beings the date of birth was the decisive point, and the degree of influence transmitted from the planets depended on the respective degree of ‘ascendance’ or ‘descendance’ at the particular epoch.”

[3]Catalogue of Early Italian Engravings ... in the British Museum. By Arthur Mayger Hind. London. 1910. pp. 49-50.

The planets and their influences afforded subject matter for many artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the finest and most important series is that engraved in the Fine Manner by an artist of the Finiguerra School, who has, as usual, drawn directly upon the Picture-Chronicle for his ornamental accessories. We can reproduce two only from the set of seven—JupiterandMercury. The inscription beneathJupiterreads, in part, as follows: “Jupiter is a male planet in the sixth sphere, warm and moist, temperate by nature, and of gentle disposition; he is sanguine, cheerful, liberal, eloquent; he loves fine clothes, is handsome and ruddy of aspect, and looks toward the Earth. Tin is his metal; his days are Sunday and Thursday, with the first, eighth, fifteenth and twenty-fourth hours; his night is that of Wednesday; he is friendly to the Moon, hostile to Mars....”In the landscape we again meet with several of the stock Finiguerra motives, the muzzled hounds, the dog chasing the hare, etc. Of especial interest is the group at the right—“wing-bearing Dante who flew through Hell, through the starry Heavens and o’er the intermediate hill of Purgatory beneath the beauteous brows of Beatrice; and Petrarch too, who tells again the tale of Cupid’s triumph; and the man who, in ten days, portrays a hundred stories (Boccaccio).”

Mercury—“eloquent and inventive ... slender of figure, tall and well grown, with delicate lips. Quicksilver is his metal”—sets forth various applications of the arts and sciences. Especially interesting is the goldsmith’s shop at the left, where we see an engraver actually at work upon a plate. The goldsmith is seated, his apprentice behind him, as a prospective purchaser examines a richly ornamented vessel. In the foreground a sculptor is chiseling his statue, while, standing above, on a scaffolding, a fresco painter is actively at work—a record of the Florence of 1460 or thereabouts, full of interest for us.

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. MERCURYSize of the original engraving, 12¾ × 8½ inchesIn the British Museum

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. MERCURY

Size of the original engraving, 12¾ × 8½ inchesIn the British Museum

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. LADYWITH A UNICORNSize of the original engraving, 6¼ inches in diameterIn the British Museum

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. LADYWITH A UNICORN

Size of the original engraving, 6¼ inches in diameterIn the British Museum

To a slightly later date, 1465-1470, belong the group of Fine Manner prints, known as theOtto Prints, also emanating from the Finiguerra workshop. They are not a series, in any true sense, and owe their name—also their fortunate preservation—to the accidental circumstanceof their having belonged at one time to Peter Ernst Otto, a merchant and collector of Leipzig. The purpose served by these prints—twenty-four in all—was the decoration of box lids, either as patterns to be copied, in the case of metal caskets, or to be colored and pasted on the lids of wooden boxes. The escutcheons are usually left blank, to be filled in by hand with the device of the donor or the recipient, or with some appropriate sentiment.

In the print entitledTwo Heads in Medallions and Two Hunting Sceneswe again meet with the animal motives taken from the Picture-Chronicle. One of the most charming is theLady with a Unicorn(Chastity), in its arrangement suggestive of the beautiful drawing by Leonardo da Vinci in the British Museum; and its symbolic meaning is doubtless the same. “The unicorn,” writes Leonardo in his “Bestiarius,” “is distinguished for lack of moderation and self-control. His passionate love of young women makes him entirely forget his shyness and ferocity. Oblivious of all dangers, he comes straight to the seated maiden and falling asleep in her lap is then caught by the hunter.” The ermine, likewise a sign of chastity, is to be seen at the right, gazing upward into Marietta’s face.

Still later than the Otto prints, and greatly inferiorto them in execution, are the three illustrations forIl Monte Sancto di Dio, of 1477; and the nineteen engravings for Dante’sDivina Commedia, with Landino’s Commentary, of 1481.Il Monte Sancto di Diois the first book in Italy or in Germany in which there appear illustrations from engraved plates printed on the text page. This entailed much additional labor, and was soon discontinued in favor of the wood-block, which could be printed simultaneously with the letterpress, and was not taken up again until nearly the end of the sixteenth century.

Alike by tradition and internal evidence, Botticelli is unquestionably the author of the Dante designs; but no artist has been suggested as the probable designer of the three illustrations forIl Monte Sancto di Dio. In the first illustration the costume and general attitude of the young gallant to the left are strongly reminiscent of the Otto prints. The lower portion of the plate shows all the characteristics of the Fine Manner, but the angel heads are treated in a simpler and more open linear method.The Christian’s Ascent to the Glory of Paradiseis allegorically represented by a ladder placed firmly in the ground of widespread Knowledge and Humility, and reaching up to the triple mountain of Faith, Hope, and Charity, on the summit of which stands the Saviour. This ladder is called Perseverance,one of its sides being Prayer, the other Sacrament. It has eleven steps: Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, Justice, etc.

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. THE CHRISTIAN’S ASCENT TOTHE GLORY OF PARADISE. FROM “IL MONTE SANCTO DI DIO,”FLORENCE, 1477Size of the original engraving, 9⅞ × 7 inchesIn the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University(If supported click figure to enlarge.)

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. THE CHRISTIAN’S ASCENT TOTHE GLORY OF PARADISE. FROM “IL MONTE SANCTO DI DIO,”FLORENCE, 1477

Size of the original engraving, 9⅞ × 7 inchesIn the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University(If supported click figure to enlarge.)

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. DANTE AND VIRGIL WITH THE VISIONOF BEATRICE. FROM THE “DIVINA COMMEDIA,” FLORENCE, 1481Size of the original engraving, 3½ × 6⅞ inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. DANTE AND VIRGIL WITH THE VISIONOF BEATRICE. FROM THE “DIVINA COMMEDIA,” FLORENCE, 1481

Size of the original engraving, 3½ × 6⅞ inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The second illustration depicts the glory of Paradise; the third the punishment of Hell, the main motives of the last-named being adapted from the fresco attributed to Orcagna, in the Campo Santo at Pisa.

In the illustrations to theDivina Commedia, of 1481, there is little left of the beauty which the original designs must have possessed. They are, indeed, “disguised into puerility by the feebleness of the engraver”; but, none the less, they remain, with the exception of Botticelli’s superb series of drawings on vellum, in Berlin and in the Vatican, unquestionably the best, one might say theonly, satisfactory illustrations of Dante’s text. No known copy contains more than the first three engravings printed directly upon the page itself. In every other case, where a greater number of illustrations appear, they are printed separately and pasted in place, indicating the difficulty experienced by the Renaissance printer in making his plates register with the letterpress.

The first print of the series shows Dante lost in the wood, emerging therefrom, and his meeting with Virgil—three subjects on a single plate. The second representsDante and Virgil with the Visionof Beatrice. Dante and Virgil are seen twice—first to the left, where Dante doubts whether to follow the guidance of Virgil further, and again on the slope of the hill to the right, where Virgil relates how the vision of Beatrice appeared to him. Near the summit of the rocky mountain is seen the entrance to Hell.

“Of the extant engravings in the Broad Manner, unquestionably the most remarkable is the large print on two sheets of theAssumption of the Virgin, after Botticelli. The original design [no longer known to exist], whether drawing or painting, from which this engraving was taken, must have been among the grandest and most vigorous works of the last period of Botticelli’s art. The large and rugged treatment of the figures of the apostles, their strange mane-like hair and beards, their fervent and agitated gestures and attitudes, lend to this part of the design a forcible and primitive character, which recalls, though largely, perhaps, in an accidental fashion, the grand and impressive art of Andrea del Castagno. Not less vigorous in conception, but of greater beauty of form and movement, is the figure of the Virgin, and the motive and arrangement of the angels who form a ‘mandorla’ around her are among the most lovely and imaginative of the many inventions of the kindwhich Botticelli has left us.”[4]In the distant valley is a view of Rome showing the Pantheon, the Column of Trajan, the Colosseum, and other buildings.

[4]Sandro Botticelli. By Herbert P. Horne. London: George Bell & Sons. 1908. p. 289.

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. ASSUMPTIONOF THE VIRGIN (After Botticelli)Size of the original engraving, 32⅝ × 22¼ inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. ASSUMPTIONOF THE VIRGIN (After Botticelli)

Size of the original engraving, 32⅝ × 22¼ inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. TRIUMPH OFLOVE. FROM THE TRIUMPHS OF PETRARCH.Size of the original engraving, 10⅜ × 6¾ inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. TRIUMPH OFLOVE. FROM THE TRIUMPHS OF PETRARCH.

Size of the original engraving, 10⅜ × 6¾ inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

If theAssumption of the Virginis the noblest print in the Broad Manner, theTriumphs of Petrarch—a set of six prints—may be said to possess the greatest charm, not less by its subject than by its treatment. Petrarch first saw Laura on April 6, 1327, in the Church of Santa Clara at Avignon, and “in the same city, on the same 6th day of the same month of April, in the year 1348, the bright light of her life was taken away from the light of this earth.” The poet’s aim in composing theseTrionfiis the same which he proposed to himself in theCanzoniere: namely, “to return in thought, from time to time, now to the beginning, now to the progress, and now to the end of his passion, taking by the way frequent opportunities of rendering praise and honor to the single and exalted object of his love. To reach this aim he devised a description of man in his various conditions of life, wherein he might naturally find occasion to speak of himself and of his Laura.

“Man in his first stage of youth is the slave of appetites, which may all be included under the generic name ofLove, or Self-Love. But as hegains understanding, he sees the impropriety of such a condition, so that he strives advisedly against those appetites and overcomes them by means ofChastity, that is, by denying himself the opportunity of satisfying them. Amid these struggles and victoriesDeathovertakes him and makes victors and vanquished equal by taking them all out of the world. Nevertheless, it has no power to destroy the memory of a man, who by illustrious and honorable deeds seeks to survive his own death. Such a man truly lives through a long course of ages by means of hisFame. ButTimeat length obliterates all memory of him, and he finds, in the last resort, that his only sure hope of living forever is by joy in God and by partaking with God in his blessedEternity.

“ThusLovetriumphs over man,ChastityoverLove, andDeathover both alike;Fametriumphs overDeath,TimeoverFame, andEternityoverTime.”[5]

[5]Le Rime di Francesco Petrarca con l’interpretazione di Giacomo Leopardi ... e gli argomenti di A. Marsand. Florence. 1839. p. 866. Translation in, Petrarch: His Life and Times. By H. C. Hollway-Calthrop. London. 1907. pp. 41-42.

With the exception of the first plate,The Triumph of Love, none of these engravings illustrates, in any strict sense of the word, the text of Petrarch’s poem. It is the spirit which the engraver has interpreted. Who may have been the designerwe know not, but they show certain affinities to the work of Pesellino and Baldovinetti.

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. TRIUMPH OFCHASTITY. FROM THE TRIUMPHS OF PETRARCHSize of the original engraving, 10 × 6⅜ inchesIn the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. TRIUMPH OFCHASTITY. FROM THE TRIUMPHS OF PETRARCH

Size of the original engraving, 10 × 6⅜ inchesIn the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. LIBYAN SIBYLSize of the original engraving, 7 × 4¼ inchesIn the British Museum

ANONYMOUS FLORENTINE, XV CENTURY. LIBYAN SIBYL

Size of the original engraving, 7 × 4¼ inchesIn the British Museum

In the first plate, Cupid, the blind archer, with flame-tipped arrow, is poised upon a ball rising from a flaming vase, the base of which, in its turn, rests upon flame. Jupiter(?), chained, is seated in the front of the car, while Samson, bearing a column, walks upon the further side. Four prancing steeds draw the car; behind, Love’s victims follow in endless procession. In the second plate,Chastitystands upon an urn; in front of her kneels Cupid, still blindfolded, with his broken arrow beside him. Two unicorns, symbols of chastity, draw the car, while upon the banner borne by the maiden at the extreme right there appears the symbolic ermine. Then follow in order the Triumphs ofDeath, ofFame, ofTime, and ofEternity.

This series of illustrations reappears, somewhat modified and simplified, in the form of woodcuts, in the editions of theTrionfipublished in Venice in 1488, 1490, 1492, and in Florence in 1499.

We have already referred to theEvangelists and Apostlesengraved by the German, Master E. S. of 1466. It is from him that the anonymous Florentine engraver borrowed his figures, in many cases leaving the form of the drapery unchanged but enriching it with elaborate designs in the manner of Finiguerra. The ProphetEzekielis thus compoundedofSt. JohnandSt. Peter, whileAmosis copied in reverse fromSt. Paul. The seated figure ofDaniel, in its turn, is derived from Martin Schongauer’s engraving,Christ Before Pilate, but the throne upon which he is seated is strongly reminiscent of the Picture-Chronicle, and likewise recalls Botticelli’s early painting ofFortitude. TheTiburtine Sibylis derived fromSt. Matthew, who, in changing his position, has likewise changed his sex. The precedent thus established has been followed bySt. John, transformed into theLibyan Sibylin the Fine Manner, with the addition of a flying veil, to the right, copied from theWoman with the Escutcheon, also by the Master E. S. In the Broad Manner print the figure of this Sibyl gains in dignity by the elimination of much superfluous ornament upon her outer garment, and from the fact that she now sits in a more upright posture, the Fine Manner print still suggesting the crouching attitude of its Northern prototype. It is to the influence, if not to the hand, of Botticelli that such improvement is most likely due.

The twenty-fourProphetsand the twelveSibyls, engraved both in the Fine and in the Broad Manner of the Finiguerra School, are individually and collectively among the most delightful productions of Italian art. It was doubtless as illustrations of mystery plays or pageants in Florence that thisseries of engravings was designed, and we are able to reconstruct from theTriumphs of Petrarch, and from these prints, a Florentine street pageant at its loveliest.

ANONYMOUS NORTH ITALIAN, XV CENTURY. THEGENTLEMAN. FROM THE TAROCCHI PRINTS(E Series)Size of the original engraving, 7⅛ × 4 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS NORTH ITALIAN, XV CENTURY. THEGENTLEMAN. FROM THE TAROCCHI PRINTS(E Series)

Size of the original engraving, 7⅛ × 4 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS NORTH ITALIAN, XV CENTURY. CLIO.FROM THE TAROCCHI PRINTS (S Series)Size of the original engraving, 7⅛ × 4 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS NORTH ITALIAN, XV CENTURY. CLIO.FROM THE TAROCCHI PRINTS (S Series)

Size of the original engraving, 7⅛ × 4 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

However great their beauty and however strong the fascination which they exert, they have a rival in the series of fifty instructive prints, which, for many years, were miscalled theTarocchi Cards of Mantegna. Tarocchi cards they are not, and of Mantegna’s influence, direct or indirect, there would seem to be no trace whatsoever. They are of North Italian origin and are the work, in all probability, of some anonymous Venetian engraver, working from Venetian or Ferrarese originals, about 1465—contemporary, therefore, with the Florentine engravings of theProphets and Sibyls. Forming, apparently, a pictorial cyclopædia of the mediæval universe, with its systematic classification of the various powers of Heaven and Earth, they divide themselves into five groups of ten cards each. First we have the ranks and conditions of men from Beggar to Pope; next Apollo and the nine Muses; then the Liberal Arts, with the addition of Poetry, Philosophy, and Theology, in order to make up the ten; next the Seven Virtues, the set being brought up to the required number by the addition ofChronico, the genius of Time,Cosmico, the genius of the Universe, andIliaco, the geniusof the Sun. The fifth group is based on the Seven Planets, together with the Sphere of the Fixed Stars and the Primum Mobile, which imparts its own revolving motion to all the spheres within it; and enfolding all the Empyrean Sphere, the abode of Heavenly Wisdom.

Much wisdom and many words have been expended upon the still unsolved riddle as to which of the two sets, known respectively as the E series and the S series (from the letters which appear in the lower left-hand corners of the ten cards of theSorts and Conditions of Men) may claim priority of date. Both series are in the Fine Manner, the outlines clearly defined, the shadings and modelling indicated with delicate burin strokes, crossed and re-crossed so as to give a tonal effect. These delicate strokes soon wore out in printing, and the structural lines of the figures then emerge in all their beauty. It may seem absurd that one should admire impressions from plates obviously worn, but the critic would do well to suspend his condemnation, since the Tarocchi Prints present many and manifold forms of beauty—in the early impressions a delicate and bloom-like quality; in certain somewhat later proofs, a charm of line which recalls the art of the Far East.

ANONYMOUS NORTH ITALIAN, XV CENTURY. THE SUN.FROM THE TAROCCHI PRINTS (E Series)Size of the original engraving, 7⅛ × 4 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS NORTH ITALIAN, XV CENTURY. THE SUN.FROM THE TAROCCHI PRINTS (E Series)

Size of the original engraving, 7⅛ × 4 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS NORTH ITALIAN, XV CENTURY. ANGEL OFTHE EIGHTH SPHERE. FROM THE TAROCCHI PRINTS(E Series)Size of the original engraving, 7⅛ × 4 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANONYMOUS NORTH ITALIAN, XV CENTURY. ANGEL OFTHE EIGHTH SPHERE. FROM THE TAROCCHI PRINTS(E Series)

Size of the original engraving, 7⅛ × 4 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Gentlemanis the fifth in order in the first group of theSorts and Conditions of Men, and isfrom the so-called E series (claimed by Sir Sidney Colvin and Mr. Arthur M. Hind, of the British Museum, to be the earlier of the two sets). The sequence runs: (1) The Beggar, (2) The Servant, (3) The Artisan, (4) The Merchant, (5) The Gentleman, (6) The Knight, (7) The Doge, (8) The King, (9) The Emperor, (10) The Pope.

Cliois the ninth of the Muses and is from the S series (placed first in point of time, by Kristeller, and about ten years later than the E series, by the British Museum authorities).

The Sunnaturally finds his place in the group ofPlanetsandSpheres. There is a delightful and childish touch in the way in whichPhætonis pictured as a little boy falling headlong into the river Po, which conveniently flows immediately beneath him. To this group belongs likewise theAngel of the Eighth Sphere, the Sphere of the Fixed Stars, one of the loveliest prints in the entire set, both in arrangement and in execution.

Nothing could be in greater contrast to the gracefulness of such a print as the above than theBattle of Naked MenbyAntonio Pollaiuolo, “the stupendous Florentine”—if one may borrow Dante’s title; but, for the moment, we will hold Pollaiuolo and his one engraving in reserve while we glance at the work ofChristofano Robetta, who, born in Florence in 1462, was consequently the junior ofPollaiuolo by thirty years. As an engraver, Robetta is inferior to the anonymous master to whom we owe the E series of the Tarocchi prints. His style is somewhat dry, and the individual lines are lacking in beauty; but his plates have that indefinable and indescribable fascination and charm which is the peculiar possession of Italian engraving and of the Florentine masters in particular. The shaping influences which determined his choice and treatment of subject are Botticelli, and, in a much larger measure, Filippino Lippi, though only in a few cases can he be shown to have worked directly from that painter’s designs. TheAdoration of the Magiis obviously inspired by Filippino Lippi’s painting in the Uffizi, though whether Robetta actually worked from the painting itself, or, as seems more probable, translated one of Filippino’s drawings, is an interesting question. The fact that the engraving is in reverse of the painting proves nothing; but there are so many points of difference between them—notably the introduction of the charming group of three angels above the Virgin and Child—that one can hardly think Robetta would have needlessly made so many and important modifications of the painting itself, if a drawing had been available. It is interesting, though of minor importance, that the hat of the King to the right, which lies on the ground, is copied inreverse from Schongauer’sAdoration, and that theAllegory of the Power of Love, one of Robetta’s most charming subjects, is engraved upon the reverse side of the plate of theAdoration of the Magi, the copper-plate itself being now in the Print Room of the British Museum. Whether theAllegory of Abundanceis entirely Robetta’s, or whether the design was suggested by another master’s painting or drawing, can be only a matter of conjecture. It shows, however, so many of the characteristics which we associate with his work that we may give him the benefit of the doubt and consider him as its “onlie begetter.”

CRISTOFANO ROBETTA. ADORATION OF THE MAGISize of the original engraving, 11⅝ × 11 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

CRISTOFANO ROBETTA. ADORATION OF THE MAGI

Size of the original engraving, 11⅝ × 11 inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ANTONIO POLLAIUOLO. BATTLE OF NAKED MENSize of the original engraving, 15¾ × 23½ inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston(If supported click figure to enlarge.)

ANTONIO POLLAIUOLO. BATTLE OF NAKED MEN

Size of the original engraving, 15¾ × 23½ inchesIn the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston(If supported click figure to enlarge.)

Hercules and the HydraandHercules and Antæusshow so markedly the influence of Pollaiuolo that we may conclude them to have been taken from the two small panels in the Uffizi; though, in the case of the first named, Pollaiuolo’s original sketch, now in the British Museum, may also have served Robetta.

WhetherPollaiuolobased his technical method upon that of Mantegna and his School, or whether Mantegna’s own engravings were inspired by his Florentine contemporary, is an interesting, but thus far unanswered, question. Pollaiuolo’s one print, theBattle of Naked Men, is engraved in the Broad Manner, somewhat modified by the use of a light stroke laid at an acute angle between theparallels. The outlines of the figures are strongly incised; while the treatment of the background lends color to the supposition that, in his youth, Pollaiuolo engraved in niello, as well as furnished designs to be executed by Finiguerra and his School. In this masterpiece the artist has summed up his knowledge of the human form, and has expressed, in a more convincing and vigorous measure than has any other engraver in the history of the art, the strain and stress of violent motion and the fury of combat.

“What is it,” asks Bernhard Berenson, “that makes us return to this sheet with ever-renewed, ever-increased pleasure? Surely it is not the hideous faces of most of the figures and their scarcely less hideous bodies. Nor is it the pattern as decorative design, which is of great beauty indeed, but not at all in proportion to the spell exerted upon us. Least of all is it—for most of us—an interest in the technique or history of engraving. No, the pleasure we take in these savagely battling forms arises from their power to directly communicate life, to immensely heighten our sense of vitality. Look at the combatant prostrate on the ground and his assailant, bending over, each intent on stabbing the other. See how the prostrate man plants his foot on the thigh of his enemy and note the tremendous energy he exerts to keep off thefoe, who, turning as upon a pivot, with his grip on the other’s head, exerts no less force to keep the advantage gained. The significance of all these muscular strains and pressures is so rendered that we cannot help realizing them; we imagine ourselves imitating all the movements and exerting the force required for them—and all without the least effort on our side. If all this without moving a muscle, what should we feel if we too had exerted ourselves? And thus while under the spell of this illusion—this hyperæsthesia not bought with drugs and not paid for with cheques drawn on our vitality—we feel as if the elixir of life, not our own sluggish blood, were coursing through our veins.”[6]

[6]Florentine Painters of the Renaissance. By Bernhard Berenson. New York: Putnam’s Sons. 1899. pp. 54-55.

Pollaiuolo is the one great original engraver Florence produced, and with him we bring to a close our all too brief study of Florentine engraving.

ITALIAN ENGRAVING: THE FLORENTINES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Le Peintre Graveur.By Adam Bartsch.21 volumes. Vienna: 1803-1821. Volume 13, Early Italian Engravers.The Drawings of the Florentine Painters.By Bernhard Berenson.2 volumes. 180 illustrations. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company. 1903.Catalogue of Early Italian Engravings Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum.By Arthur Mayger Hind. Edited by Sidney Colvin.20 illustrations. London: The Trustees. 1910.———. Illustrations to the Catalogue ... 198 plates. London: The Trustees. 1909.Some Early Italian Engravers Before the Time of Marcantonio.By Arthur Mayger Hind.22 illustrations. The Print-Collector’s Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 253-289. Boston. 1912.Sulle origini dell’incisione in rame in Italia.By Paul Kristeller.4 illustrations. Archivio Storico dell’Arte, Vol. 6, p. 391-400. Rome. 1893.Le Peintre-Graveur.By J. D. Passavant.6 volumes. Leipzig: Rudolph Weigel. 1860-1864. Volumes 1 and 5, Early Italian Engravers.Des Types et des manières des maitres graveurs ... en Italie, en Allemagne, dans les Pays-Bas et en France.By Jules Renouvier.2 volumes. Montpellier: Boehm, 1853-1855. Volume 1, Engravers of the Fifteenth Century.Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.By Giorgio Vasari.Translated by Mrs. Jonathan Foster. With commentary by J. P. Richter. 6 volumes. London: George Bell & Sons. 1890-1892.Finiguerra, Maso(1426-1464)A Florentine Picture-Chronicle; being a Series of Ninety-nine Drawings Representing Scenes and Personages of Ancient History, Sacred and Profane; reproduced from the Originals in the British Museum.Edited by Sidney Colvin.99 reproductions and 117 text illustrations. London: B. Quaritch. 1898.Sandro Botticelli.By Herbert P. Horne.43 plates. London: George Bell & Sons. 1905. pp. 77-86.The Planets(c. 1460)The Seven Planets.By Friedrich Lippmann. Translated by Florence Simmonds.43 reproductions. London. 1895. (International Chalcographical Society. 1895.)The Otto Prints(c. 1465-1470)Florentinische Zierstücke aus dem XV. Jahrhundert.Edited by Paul Kristeller.25 reproductions. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer. 1909. (Graphische Gesellschaft. Publication 10.)Delle ‘Imprese amorose’ nelle più antiche incisione fiorentine.By A. Warburg.Rivista d’Arte, Vol. 3 (July-August). Florence. 1905.Engravings in Books(1477-1481)Works of the Italian Engravers in the Fifteenth Century; Reproduced ... with an Introduction.By George William Reid.20 reproductions on 19 plates. First Series: Il Libro del Monte Sancto di Dio, 1477; La Divina Commedia of Dante; and the Triumphs of Petrarch.Illustrations of the Divina Commedia, Florence, 1481Sandro Botticelli.By Herbert P. Horne.43 plates. London: George Bell & Sons. 1908. pp. 75-77, 190-255.Zeichnungen von Sandro Botticelli zu Dante’s Goettlicher Komoedie nach den Originalen im K. Kupferstichkabinet zu Berlin.Edited by Friedrich Lippmann.20 reproductions of engravings bound with text. With portfolio of 84 reproductions of the drawings.Supplemented by—Die acht Handzeichnungen des Sandro Botticelli zu Dantes Göttlicher Komödie im Vatikan.Edited by Josef Strzygowski.With portfolio of 8 reproductions.Triumphs of Petrarch(c. 1470-1480)Pétrarque; ses études d’art, son influence sur les artistes, ses portraits and ceux de Laure, l’illustration de ses écrits.By Victor Masséna,Prince d’Essling, andEugène Muntz. 21 plates and 191 text illustrations. Paris: Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 1902.Études sur les Triomphes de Pétrarque.By Victor Masséna, Prince d’Essling.6 illustrations. Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 2 parts. Part I. Vol. 35 (second period). pp. 311-321. Part II. Vol. 36 (second period). pp. 25-34. Paris. 1887.Petrarch; His Life and Times.By H. C. Hollway-Calthrop.24 illustrations. London: Methuen & Co. 1907.Broad Manner Plates(c. 1470-1480)Sandro Botticelli.By Herbert P. Horne.43 plates. London: George Bell & Sons. 1908. pp. 288-291.The Tarocchi Prints(c. 1467)Die Tarocchi; zwei italienische Kupferstichfolgen aus dem XV. Jahrhundert.Edited by Paul Kristeller.100 reproductions on 50 plates. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer. 1910. (Graphische Gesellschaft. Extraordinary Publication 2.)Der venezianische Kupferstich im XV. Jahrhundert.By Paul Kristeller.6 illustrations. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für vervielfältigende Kunst, Vol. 30, No. 1. Vienna. 1907.Origine des cartes à jouer.By R. Merlin.About 600 reproductions. Paris: L’auteur. 1869.The Tarocchi Prints.By Emil H. Richter.13 illustrations. The Print-Collector’s Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 37-89. Boston. 1916.Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum.By William Hughes Willshire.78 reproductions on 24 plates. London: The Trustees. 1876.Pollaiuolo, Antonio(1432-1498)Florentine Painters of the Renaissance.By Bernhard Berenson.New York: Putnam’s Sons. 1899. pp. 47-57.Antonio Pollaiuolo.By Maud Cruttwell.51 illustrations. London: Duckworth and Company. 1907.Note su Mantegna e Pollaiuolo.By Arthur Mayger Hind.2 illustrations. L’Arte, Vol. 9, pp. 303-305. Rome. 1906.

Le Peintre Graveur.By Adam Bartsch.21 volumes. Vienna: 1803-1821. Volume 13, Early Italian Engravers.

The Drawings of the Florentine Painters.By Bernhard Berenson.2 volumes. 180 illustrations. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company. 1903.

Catalogue of Early Italian Engravings Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum.By Arthur Mayger Hind. Edited by Sidney Colvin.20 illustrations. London: The Trustees. 1910.

———. Illustrations to the Catalogue ... 198 plates. London: The Trustees. 1909.

Some Early Italian Engravers Before the Time of Marcantonio.By Arthur Mayger Hind.22 illustrations. The Print-Collector’s Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 253-289. Boston. 1912.

Sulle origini dell’incisione in rame in Italia.By Paul Kristeller.4 illustrations. Archivio Storico dell’Arte, Vol. 6, p. 391-400. Rome. 1893.

Le Peintre-Graveur.By J. D. Passavant.6 volumes. Leipzig: Rudolph Weigel. 1860-1864. Volumes 1 and 5, Early Italian Engravers.

Des Types et des manières des maitres graveurs ... en Italie, en Allemagne, dans les Pays-Bas et en France.By Jules Renouvier.2 volumes. Montpellier: Boehm, 1853-1855. Volume 1, Engravers of the Fifteenth Century.

Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.By Giorgio Vasari.Translated by Mrs. Jonathan Foster. With commentary by J. P. Richter. 6 volumes. London: George Bell & Sons. 1890-1892.

Finiguerra, Maso(1426-1464)

A Florentine Picture-Chronicle; being a Series of Ninety-nine Drawings Representing Scenes and Personages of Ancient History, Sacred and Profane; reproduced from the Originals in the British Museum.Edited by Sidney Colvin.99 reproductions and 117 text illustrations. London: B. Quaritch. 1898.

Sandro Botticelli.By Herbert P. Horne.43 plates. London: George Bell & Sons. 1905. pp. 77-86.

The Planets(c. 1460)

The Seven Planets.By Friedrich Lippmann. Translated by Florence Simmonds.43 reproductions. London. 1895. (International Chalcographical Society. 1895.)

The Otto Prints(c. 1465-1470)

Florentinische Zierstücke aus dem XV. Jahrhundert.Edited by Paul Kristeller.25 reproductions. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer. 1909. (Graphische Gesellschaft. Publication 10.)

Delle ‘Imprese amorose’ nelle più antiche incisione fiorentine.By A. Warburg.Rivista d’Arte, Vol. 3 (July-August). Florence. 1905.

Engravings in Books(1477-1481)

Works of the Italian Engravers in the Fifteenth Century; Reproduced ... with an Introduction.By George William Reid.20 reproductions on 19 plates. First Series: Il Libro del Monte Sancto di Dio, 1477; La Divina Commedia of Dante; and the Triumphs of Petrarch.

Illustrations of the Divina Commedia, Florence, 1481

Sandro Botticelli.By Herbert P. Horne.43 plates. London: George Bell & Sons. 1908. pp. 75-77, 190-255.

Zeichnungen von Sandro Botticelli zu Dante’s Goettlicher Komoedie nach den Originalen im K. Kupferstichkabinet zu Berlin.Edited by Friedrich Lippmann.20 reproductions of engravings bound with text. With portfolio of 84 reproductions of the drawings.

Supplemented by—Die acht Handzeichnungen des Sandro Botticelli zu Dantes Göttlicher Komödie im Vatikan.Edited by Josef Strzygowski.With portfolio of 8 reproductions.

Triumphs of Petrarch(c. 1470-1480)

Pétrarque; ses études d’art, son influence sur les artistes, ses portraits and ceux de Laure, l’illustration de ses écrits.By Victor Masséna,Prince d’Essling, andEugène Muntz. 21 plates and 191 text illustrations. Paris: Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 1902.

Études sur les Triomphes de Pétrarque.By Victor Masséna, Prince d’Essling.6 illustrations. Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 2 parts. Part I. Vol. 35 (second period). pp. 311-321. Part II. Vol. 36 (second period). pp. 25-34. Paris. 1887.

Petrarch; His Life and Times.By H. C. Hollway-Calthrop.24 illustrations. London: Methuen & Co. 1907.

Broad Manner Plates(c. 1470-1480)

Sandro Botticelli.By Herbert P. Horne.43 plates. London: George Bell & Sons. 1908. pp. 288-291.

The Tarocchi Prints(c. 1467)

Die Tarocchi; zwei italienische Kupferstichfolgen aus dem XV. Jahrhundert.Edited by Paul Kristeller.100 reproductions on 50 plates. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer. 1910. (Graphische Gesellschaft. Extraordinary Publication 2.)

Der venezianische Kupferstich im XV. Jahrhundert.By Paul Kristeller.6 illustrations. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für vervielfältigende Kunst, Vol. 30, No. 1. Vienna. 1907.

Origine des cartes à jouer.By R. Merlin.About 600 reproductions. Paris: L’auteur. 1869.

The Tarocchi Prints.By Emil H. Richter.13 illustrations. The Print-Collector’s Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 37-89. Boston. 1916.

Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum.By William Hughes Willshire.78 reproductions on 24 plates. London: The Trustees. 1876.

Pollaiuolo, Antonio(1432-1498)

Florentine Painters of the Renaissance.By Bernhard Berenson.New York: Putnam’s Sons. 1899. pp. 47-57.

Antonio Pollaiuolo.By Maud Cruttwell.51 illustrations. London: Duckworth and Company. 1907.

Note su Mantegna e Pollaiuolo.By Arthur Mayger Hind.2 illustrations. L’Arte, Vol. 9, pp. 303-305. Rome. 1906.

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