IIITHE EARLY DAYS OF ENGRAVING
Havingfollowed woodcut from its beginnings to the end of the fifteenth century, it behooves us now to devote our attention to the earliest intaglio process, namely, engraving.
Ever since the days of antiquity it had been the practice of metal-workers to cut decorative designs into the surface of the metal. Armorers and goldsmiths practiced this art of engraving in mediæval and Renaissance times. For our present purposes the absorbing question is this: How did the idea of printing from this decorated metal first suggest itself? We may get a clue by watching the engraver at work. With the graver he cuts a maze of lines into the metal; it is almost impossible to see the design owing to the glitter of each new-cut furrow. This troubles the engraver himself, and inorder to see just what he has done, he smears the plate over with a mixture of lamp-black and oil, rubbing it well into the furrows. Then he wipes the plate clean, and now the design stands out plainly in black lines upon the shining metal surface. If he were now to take a piece of paper and press it against the plate, the black color in the furrows would adhere to the paper, and every line cut into the metal would be reproduced there. In such an accidental way, no doubt, the possibility of obtaining impressions from intaglio plates became known some time about or before the middle of the fifteenth century. But, of course, such an impression taken by hand pressure is bound to be very imperfect, and it may have been some time before some goldsmith thought it worth while to experiment with these printing possibilities. At first impressions may have seemed useful as guides for further work on the metal, or they may have served as memoranda of work done and delivered.As a matter of fact, goldsmiths did make use of this new-found mode of printing, and took impressions from their small decorative niello plates, before filling in the engraved lines with the final black enamel,—the “nigellum.”
If woodcut were dubbed the democrat among the graphic arts, certainly engraving must be called the aristocrat of the family. It originates in the goldsmith’s workshop, amidst a guild of skilled designers, who not unfrequently practice painting together with their craft. No wonder that in such hands engraving should shape itself along artistic lines from the start. In Germany engraving finds a ready welcome among other manifestations of an art essentially of the town, of the burgher, while the art of the Italian quattrocento celebrates its great triumphs in the erection or adornment of sumptuous edifices, under the fostering care of princes and prelates. The German naïvely depicts, with minute precision, the scenes andenvironments of his homely sphere; all subjects, whatever their time or country, are shifted into the familiar setting of his own time and his own surroundings. Hence we see the crucifixion taking place in a clearing amidst firs; we find German and Dutch burghers in the scenes of the Passion, or kneeling in adoration—as Magi—before the new-born Child.
The Italian artist is no less zealous in his search for nature’s truths, but at the same time he harks back to those remains of former artistic perfection which are just then being reclaimed from the soil, heirlooms from classical antiquity. Guided by both, he imparts a semblance of life to his ideal forms, that they may appear real, though belonging to a higher world. The cult of antiquity establishes a retrospective tendency in the choice of subjects represented. Traditional themes taken from the Bible, from legend and mythology, are used again and again with changes in the composition, in costume,lighting and color scheme, all in the constant endeavor to excel in perfection of form and composition, and in harmonious, beautiful coloring.
MADONNA OF EINSIEDELNMaster E. S.
MADONNA OF EINSIEDELNMaster E. S.
MADONNA OF EINSIEDELN
Master E. S.
In Germany purses are more slender, customers are content to adorn their homes with woodcuts or engravings instead of paintings. Pictures are wanted, with figures carefully drawn, explicit pictures, finished, natural in appearance, with plenty of detail in figures and accessories, something appealing to their humor, to their piety, to their own sphere of interest. Hence the tendency to carry every scene into the familiar setting of actuality; hence the interest in the natural surroundings of the scene; hence the predominance of Biblical and religious subjects which appeal to the pious; and for others the scenes of daily life, tournaments, soldiers, not to forget plates and books of designs for the use of craftsmen. The production of picture-like prints in which hand coloring was not to be considered, necessarily broughtabout a speedy development of technique. Even in early work it seems as though the German engraver realized, more than his Italian contemporary, the possibilities of the engraved plate; the figures are quaint, reminiscent of the Gothic past, but they are well cut, in clear, sweeping outline. The shading is simple, but not timid or awkward, and pleasantly follows and accents the form. Few of these fifteenth-century engravers have left us as much as a name or the most meager data as to their lives. In many cases we have not even a date, a sign, or an initial placed somewhere on the print, as a means of identification. We are conscious, in these early examples, of the artistic spirit in which the engraver treats the saint’s picture and the playing-card, extensive fields, exploited already by primitive woodcut. A choice between eminent representatives among the anonymous engravers would lie between the so-called Master of the Playing-Cards, the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet, andMaster E. S. An illustration of the excellence achieved by the last named artist will be found in his presentation of the Madonna of Einsiedeln. Notice the development of the picture element, the sureness with which the graver is used, long strokes and delicate touches, varying with the needs of modeling and design. This mastery over the medium is yet more apparent in the engravings of Martin Schongauer, the leading figure in fifteenth-century engraving. In his work we still discern the peculiar characteristics of the period, long slim hands and feet, an emaciation which brings the head into prominence, a tendency—reminiscent of the Middle Ages—to treat each object independently, as a unit, as a symbol of its kind; but then what purity and sincerity emanate from his figures. In his “Death of the Virgin,” what a harmonious effect, what keenness of observation. He knows little of the rendering of nudity,—all Northern artists are hampered in that way,—but his bodies,though lacking in structural skill, are wonderfully well caught in pose and gesture. His observation and his resourceful imagination were fully recognized by both Dürer and Raphael, who both availed themselves of his achievements. The graver helps to round the forms, by following the direction of the curves. Long, steady, curving strokes, emphasized in the deep shadows, breaking up—in the lights—into dots which blend into the high lights of white paper. No hesitating, little criss-cross strokes here, but a dignified simplicity of line which enhances the dignity and simplicity of his compositions. Remember that in order to appreciate these essential qualities of line and of resulting effect, you must consult the original prints; half-tone illustrations cannot be expected to convey more than a general idea of the originals.
DEATH OF THE VIRGINMartin Schongauer
DEATH OF THE VIRGINMartin Schongauer
DEATH OF THE VIRGIN
Martin Schongauer
It would be unfair to attribute all this artistic development to German initiative alone. Italy has practically no share in it, at this period, but the close commercial relations existing between Germany and the Burgundian Netherlands must have facilitated an artistic intercourse most beneficial to the former country. The stupendous creations of the brothers Van Eyck, of Van der Weyden, Memling, Van der Goes, and others did induce workers in the artistic crafts to visit the Low Countries. Their contemplation must have been a source of stimulating inspiration to the German painters, and indirectly to German engraving. Direct influence there could not be, since we look in vain through the ranks of this flourishing school of Flemish painters for any manifestation in the graphic arts. Only the arts of opulence: painting, costly illuminated manuscripts with miniatures, or the woven tapestries of Arras and Brussels, brocades, and laces, were produced in the prosperous towns and at the brilliant ducal court of Burgundy.
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SIBILLA SAMIAFlorence, 15th Century
SIBILLA SAMIAFlorence, 15th Century
SIBILLA SAMIA
Florence, 15th Century
CLIO, FROM THE SO-CALLED TAROCCHINorthern Italy, 15th Century
CLIO, FROM THE SO-CALLED TAROCCHINorthern Italy, 15th Century
CLIO, FROM THE SO-CALLED TAROCCHI
Northern Italy, 15th Century
BATTLE OF NUDE MENAntonio Pollajuolo
BATTLE OF NUDE MENAntonio Pollajuolo
BATTLE OF NUDE MEN
Antonio Pollajuolo
CHRIST BETWEEN TWO SAINTSAndrea Mantegna
CHRIST BETWEEN TWO SAINTSAndrea Mantegna
CHRIST BETWEEN TWO SAINTS
Andrea Mantegna
Early Italian engraving begins with theniello of the goldsmith, little silver plates for ornamental uses, with minute scenes and figures, usually well cut, as might certainly be expected in a guild so highly skilled. It is interesting to follow engraving as it broadens beyond the neat and primarily ornamental sphere of the craft, into the large field of art. Florence, the center of dignified, conservative art, the Florence of Botticelli has given us the two classical series of “Sibyls” and “Prophets.” The manner of execution, as we see in the example shown, is still that of the goldsmith, fond of ornament, of detail, shading with minute strokes, close together, which blend to form a tone. The other example is selected from a North Italian series of the same period. It forms part of what by some authorities is thought to be a set of “Tarocchi,” a game of cards peculiar to Italy. Less severe, more graceful than the Florentine example, it is another triumph of the goldsmith in the field of the graphic arts. From him engraving passes under the swayof the painter. If we compare Italian and German graver-work of those days, a plate of Mantegna, for instance, and a plate of Schongauer, we shall readily perceive that in engraving the German masterthinksin line. The Italian painter thinks, not in line, but in masses of light and shade, in terms of the antique marbles, which he has studied with such enthusiasm. His design goes on the copper as it would be jotted down on paper with the pen, without consideration of the graver, except that it seems a useful implement for multiplying his sketches, which are wanted in many studios and workshops. A simple, even outline, and for shading, parallel lines, straight and close together, generally in a uniform diagonal direction,—that is all. Fine early impressions from plates of this character have quite the charm of a drawing; deep shadow-tones are then visible, caused by a system of slight, tone-giving lines over the heavier shadings. When these have worn off, they leave only a system of hard,wiry-looking shade-strokes; unfortunately the good early impressions are very, very rare, so that we are accustomed to look upon the gray, worn impressions usually found as being the actual work of the artist, which is unfair. The absorbing interest of antique bas-reliefs is evident in the large “Battle of Nude Men,” by Antonio Pollajuolo, breathing the enthusiasm with which Italy told anew the artistic message of the distant past, yet lacking the poise and moderation which we admire in the grand classical sculptures. In his eagerness to proclaim the beauty and power of the human body in vigorous action, he far outstrips his powers of expression, yet his muscular exaggerations need not materially lessen our enjoyment of this powerful, expressive print. In Andrea Mantegna, we reach the central figure of this early period of Italian engraving. In him are combined the humanist’s devotion to classical art and the fiery energy of a man of action, filled with his art, rugged, stern, taking fromnature and antiquity the forms of artistic expression. At his hands the world is invested with a grandeur seldom achieved, inspiring to his contemporaries, helpful and stimulating to young Dürer in his strivings toward greater breadth, simplicity, and unity of composition. In Mantegna’s “Christ between two Saints,” we find the same scant means of graver-work which he employed in all his austere compositions: a well-defined outline, even, without swelling, softening accents, simple shading, generally in a uniform diagonal direction; nowhere an attempt at texture, or differentiation of color. The subjects are all treated as though they were cut in high relief on slabs of stone, without variation of surface or suggestion of distance. Venetian influence mitigates the ruggedness of Mantegna’s gaunt, imposing “John the Baptist,” by means of the unusual, soft, stippling technique adopted by Giulio Campagnola, which gives the print more the appearance of a grainy wash drawing, incontrast with the usual pen-and-ink aspect of early Italian prints. Scores of other important examples might be adduced, but they can easily be found in any good history of engraving.
ST. JOHN THE BAPTISTGiulio Campagnola
ST. JOHN THE BAPTISTGiulio Campagnola
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
Giulio Campagnola