Henri Guérard’s mezzotint with etching, “Sibylla Delphica”, 1887, after Edward Burne-Jones

Henri Guérard (aka Henri-Charles Guérard) (1846–1897)

“Sibylla Delphica”, 1887, after the painting of the same title (1868) (see https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Burne-Jones_-_Sibylla_Delphica,_1868.jpg) in the Manchester Art Gallery by Edward Burne-Jones (aka Edward Coley Burne-Jones) (1833–1898), printed by L Eudes (fl.1876–1889), published in Paris as an illustration to the art periodical, “Gazette des Beaux-Arts”, 1887, vol. 36 (Vingt-neuvième année - Deuxième période Volume trente-sixième), opposite page 194 (see https://archive.org/details/gazettedesbeauxa61pari/page/194/mode/2up).

Etching with mezzotint printed in a warm black ink on laid paper backed with a support sheet. Note that the British Museum proposes that this print may be an aquatint, but based on the fine rocker-like score marks on the face and hands I am swayed to believe it is a mezzotint—I may be wrong!

Size: (sheet) 28.1 x 16.7 cm; (plate) 23.7 x 11.4 cm; (image borderline) 20.8 x 8.2 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Burne-Jones pinx./ Gazette des Beaux-Arts.”; (centre) “SIBYLLA DELPHICA.”; (right) “H. Guérard sc./ Imp. Etudes.”

Beraldi 487 (Henri Béraldi 1888, “Les Graveurs du XIXe Siècle: Guide de l'Amateur d'Estampes Modernes”, vol. VII, Paris, Librairie L Conquet, p. 272, cat. no. 487); IFF 57 (Département des Estampes 1930–, “Inventaire du Fonds Francais Après 1800”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, cat. no. 57).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “The Delphic Sibyl, after Edward Burne-Jones, full-length, standing by the tripod, holding bay leaves … plate published in 'La Gazette des Beaux-Arts', 1887, volume II, page 194. 1887 Etching (with aquatint?)” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1922-0718-39).

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression with a good margin around the platemark and laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper. The sheet is in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains or signs of handling.

I am selling this small and exceptionally beautiful mezzotint after Edward Burne-Jones’ painting of the Delphic Sibyl—a prophetic figure of Ancient Greece famous for foreshadowing the coming of Christ and, interestingly, features in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling—for the total cost of AU$202 (currently US$129.5/EUR132.12/GBP115.87 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 sensitively executed mezzotint, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.