Simon Frisius (aka Simon Wynhoutsz Frisius; Simon de
Vries) (c.1580–1628)
“Boslandschap
met ruïne verborgen achter bomen” (Forest landscape with ruins hidden behind
trees), 1613/14, after Matthijs Bril (c.1550–83), published by Hendrick Hondius
I (1573–1650) in “Topographia Variarum Regionum” (Various topographical views)
(1613/14).
Etching on fine
wove paper trimmed irregularly at or within the image borderline.
Size: (sheet)
10.1 x 14.5 cm
Lettered below
the image borderline: “Mabias bril inventor. Henricus hondius excudit.”
State i (of iii)
State i (of iii)
Hollstein 1-25
(after Matthijs Bril); New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 142.I (Simon
Frisius); Hollstein 64-91 (under Simon Frisius)
The Rijksmuseum
offers the following description of this print:
“Twee mannen
staan langs een bosrand. Zij kijken naar een ruïne die, rechts, half verborgen
is achter de bomen.” (Two men standing along a forest edge. They look at a
ruin, right, is half hidden behind the trees.) (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.454729)
The British
Museum offers the following description of this print:
“View of a huge
gnarled tree set before some ruins, figures in the foreground, after Matthijs
Bril. 1613/1614” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3052317&partId=1&searchText=Simon+Frisius+ruins&page=1)
The curator of
the BM advises that the publication “’Topographia Variarum Regionum’ consists
of “a series of twenty-seven etchings by Frisius after Matthijs Bril (New
Hollstein 123-150) of small landscapes, which was published in 1614 by Hendrick
Hondius. One print after Joos van Lier has been added to the series. The prints
are inlaid into double sheets and the series is bound in an album with a gold
tooled vellum binding that seems to be seventeenth-century.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3051221&partId=1&searchText=1947,0319.7.&page=1
)
Condition: crisp
and well-printed impression with areas of wear, trimmed irregularly at, or
slightly within, the image borderline in near pristine condition.
I am selling
this small but remarkable etching for the total cost of AU$242 (currently
US$185.69/EUR172.33/GBP150.19 at the time of posting this) including postage
and handling to anywhere in the world.
If you are
interested in purchasing this seldom seen marvellous old-master print, please
contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal
invoice to make the payment easy.
In previous
posts showcasing prints by this remarkable old master I discussed Frisius’
skill as a calligrapher. I also touched upon his feat of amazing technical virtuosity
in that his published manual for calligraphers which relies upon etchings as
illustrations are all executed as faux engravings (i.e. Frisius faked the “look”
of engravings using an etching needle).
For me, Frisius’
leaning to calligraphy is revealed in his treatment of the rocky outcrop in terms
of the care that he has taken to give flow to the rhythm of the contour lines
as they pictorially sculpt the form of the hillock. This is not to say that
such care is not to be seen in many other artists’ attention to tight alignment
of their strokes when laying contour lines, but rather that Frisius seems to
enjoy creating complexity through the continuation of his strokes as a rhythm from
the top of the rocky mound to the bottom.
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