Paul Edme Le Rat’s etching, “Orphée et Eurydice”, 1876, after Jacopo de' Barbari & Peter Vischer II

Paul Edme Le Rat (aka Paul Edmunde Le Rat; Paul Edme Lerat) (1842/49–1892)

“Orphée et Eurydice”, 1876, printed by Alfred Salmon (fl.1863–1894) and published in Paris in the “Gazette des Beaux-Arts” (February, 1876, pp. 367–368), after the design (as attributed in the plate) by Jacopo de' Barbari (aka Master of the Caduceus) (c1460–1516) and after a bronze relief (c1515) by Peter Vischer the Younger (1487–1528) that was in the Gustave Dreyfus Collection (as inscribed in the plate), but is now in the Samuel H. Kress Collection of the National Gallery of Arts, Washington DC (inv. no. 1957.14.565; https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.44285.html).

Etching and drypoint on fine laid paper, trimmed around the platemark with a small margin and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (support sheet) 36.2 x 31.2 cm; (sheet) 21.6 x 17.4 cm; (plate) 18.9 x 14.5 cm; (image borderline) 15.1 x 11.8 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “JACOPO DE BARBARJ INV./ Gazette des Beaux-Arts”; (centre) “ORPHÉE ET EURYDICE./ (Bas-relief en bronze de la Collection de M^r. Gustave Dreyfus)”; (right) P. LE RAT SCULP./ Imp. A. Salmon, Paris.”

IFF 35 (“Inventaire du Fonds Français”, Bibliothèque Nationale de France); Beraldi 1 (not described) (Henri Beraldi 1889, “Les Graveurs du dix-neuvième siècle”, Paris, Librairie L. Conquet, vol. 9, p. 148, cat. no. 1).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “Orpheus and Eurydice, after a bronze relief by Peter Vischer the Younger; Orpheus standing at right, a string instrument in hand, turning back and looking at Eurydice, who stands outside a cave on the left” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1922-0722-81).

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression (near faultless), trimmed with a small margin around the plate mark and laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper. The sheet is in an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains or foxing.

I am selling this superb etching printed in the same direction as a Renaissance period bronze relief by Peter Vischer capturing not only the sheen of the bronze’s black lacquer coating but also (arguably) the slightly rubbed raised areas, for the total cost of AU$198 (currently US$135.27/EUR126.90/GBP111.75 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 purchasing this skilfully executed etching of the late 1800s showcasing a more painterly approach to reproductive printmaking compared to the mechanical precision of the earlier engraving workshops, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.