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Thursday 27 October 2022

Marcantonio Raimondi’s engraving, “The High Priest Refuses Joachim's Sacrifice”, 1510–1515, after Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut

Marcantonio Raimondi (aka Marcantonio) (1470/82–1527/34)

“The High Priest Refuses Joachim's Sacrifice” (aka “Joachims offer wordt geweigerd”; “Le Prêtre Refusant le Présent de Saint Joachim”), 1510–1515, plate 1 from the series of seventeen prints with the Life of Mary as subject, “The Life of the Virgin”, after the woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer (aka Albrecht Duerer) (1471–1528) (see a view and description of Dürer’s woodcut offered by the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.33300).

This print features in one of history’s pivotal points regarding copyright, as Dürer famously printed a stark warning in the colophon for the 1511 edition of his series of woodcuts, “The Life of the Virgin”: “Beware you envious thieves of the work of invention [Laboris et inguenii] of others, keep your thoughtless hands from these works of ours. We have received a privilege from the famous Emperor of Rome, Maximilian, that no one shall dare to print these works in spurious forms, not sell such prints within the boundaries of the Empire …” (see Lisa Pon 2004, “Raphael, Dürer, and Marcantonio Raimondi: Copying and the Italian Renaissance Print”, New Haven, Yale University press, p.39). Although Dürer was rightly enraged by the copying of his prints, this print was engraved and published before the colophon warning was circulated.

Engraving on laid paper trimmed around the image borderline with a narrow margin.

Size: (sheet) 29.3 x 21.4 cm; (image borderline) 29 x 21.1 cm.

Lettered in plate in the style of Albrecht Dürer’s monogram on tablet at lower centre: “AD”; numbered in plate (lower centre) “I”.

Lifetime impression (based on the line quality showing no sign of wear to the printing plate).

TIB 27. 621 (Konrad Oberhuber [ed.] 1978, “The Illustrated Bartsch: The Works of Marcantonio Raimondi and of his School”, Part 2, vol. 27, New York, Abaris Books, p. 307, cat. no. 621 [406]); Bartsch 406; Delaborde 235.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Rijksmuseum and The Fine Art Museums of San Franscisco offer descriptions of this print: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/342705; http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.34809; https://art.famsf.org/marcantonio-raimondi/high-priest-refuses-joachims-sacrificepl-1-series-life-virgin-after-woodcuts.

Condition: a strong, near faultless, impression, trimmed with a narrow margin around the image borderline. There is a small tear at upper left and there is a curious spread of glue verso, otherwise the sheet is in a remarkably good condition for its size and age with no holes, folds, significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this rare masterwork of engraving for the total cost of AU$448 (currently US$290.33/EUR288.38/GBP250.29 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in this exceptionally fine engraving that is also an historical marking point in the change of copyright restrictions in 1511, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold