Camille Corot, “Paysage d'Italie”, c. 1865–66

Camille Corot (Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot) (1796–1875)

“Paysage d'Italie” (Italian Landscape), c. 1865–66

Contextual Commentary:

This boldly inscribed landscape etching is Corot’s third and final contribution to the Société des Aquafortistes—a society of artists (active 1862–1867) founded in Paris to revive and promote etching as a prestigious fine art form.

The plate features an evolving publication history. Trial proofs of the first state (before lettering) were pulled by Félix Bracquemond. The second state was printed by Auguste Delâtre for the Société des Aquafortistes in October 1866 bearing plate number 246. This impression represents the third and final state of the plate, printed and published by Alfred Cadart (1828–1875) for later anthologies such as L’Eau-forte depuis 10 ans (1872).

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching on buff-coloured chine collé on heavy wove paper with wide margins.

This impression represents a crisp, final publication variant of the third state. It features the fully realised text line showing Alfred Cadart as the printer (Imp. A. Cadart, Paris), differentiating it from earlier second-state Delâtre printings and variant third-state printings bearing the Bachelin-Deflorenne library text.

The impression is richly inked and sharply printed with no visible signs of plate wear. Aside from faint traces of uneven toning in the margin from historic mounting, the sheet is in excellent condition—completely free of tears, holes, folds, or abrasions.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 30.0 x 40.5 cm
• Platemark: 15.7 x 23.7 cm
• Chine collé: 15.5 x 23.7 cm
• Image borderline: 14.8 x 23.1 cm

In-Plate Lettering (below the image):

• Left: “Corot sculp.”
• Centre: “PAYSAGE D'ITALIE”
• Right: “Imp. A. Cadart, Paris”

References:

• Melot C7: Michel Melot, “Graphic Art of the Pre-Impressionists”, 1978 (New York, Harry N. Abrams), pp. 258–59, cat. no. C7.
• IFF 7: Jean Adhémar, “Inventaire du Fonds Français après 1800: Cidoine–Daumier”, vol. 5, 1949 (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Estampes), p. 186, cat. no. 7 — Available via Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Gallica): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5488526m/f198.image
• British Museum, museum number 1871,0812.723: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1871-0812-723
• Yale University, accession number 1974.4.5: https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/15915

Price & Shipping:

AU$1886 (approximately US$1326.86 / €1188.34 / £990.71), including worldwide express shipping. Any applicable import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

To enquire about this simply superb impression of this very beautiful and rare etching, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I’ll be happy to send you a PayPal invoice for a straightforward payment.

Please note: The scan contrast has been digitally enhanced to show the print’s details more clearly. As a result, the image tones may not fully reflect the subtle tonal qualities of the original.

Pieter de Jode II, “Adam de Coster”, 1630–45, after Anthony van Dyck

Pieter de Jode II (also known as Petrus de Iode) (1606–1674)

“Adam de Coster” (or “Portret van Adam de Coster”), 1630–45

Contextual Commentary:

The sitter is the Flemish painter Adam de Coster (c. 1586–1643), a prominent member of the Antwerp Caravaggisti—a group of artists influenced by Caravaggio. De Coster was known as a pictor noctium, or “Painter of Nights,” for his dramatically lit nocturnal scenes. The Latin inscription beneath the portrait, “PICTOR NOCTIVM MECHLINIENSIS,” means “Painter of Nights from Mechelen,” a city in Flanders also known by its French name, Malines.

The image is based on Anthony van Dyck’s (1599–1641) grisaille painting in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Boughton House (inv. no. 191). The British Museum also notes a related grisaille in the Musée Bonnat, Bayonne (inv. no. 938), and a preparatory black-chalk drawing in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt (inv. no. 789). See British Museum inv. no. R,1a.85.

Technical Details & Condition:

Engraving and etching on laid paper with a grape watermark of French origin, with wide margins as published.

The print belongs to the celebrated series after Van Dyck, Icones Principum Virorum.

This impression is from the final state, state six of six. In this state, the initials of the mid-17th-century publisher Gillis Hendricx have been burnished out. Their complete removal distinguishes the later edition published by Arkstée & Merkus in Amsterdam and Leipzig around 1750.

The impression is richly inked and finely printed, with no visible signs of plate wear. Aside from a collector’s ink stamp on the verso and faint pencil notations along the lower edge of the recto, the sheet is in excellent condition, free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, and significant stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 36.2 x 25.2 cm
• Platemark: 23.4 x 16.8 cm
• Image borderline: 21.5 x 16.3 cm

In-Plate Lettering (below the image):

• Left: “Ant. van Dyck pinxit / Petrus de Iode sculpsit.”
• Centre: “ADAM DE COSTER. / PICTOR NOCTIVM MECHLINIENSIS.”
• Right: “Cum priuilegio”

References:

• Mauquoy-Hendricx (Van Dyck) 31: Marie Mauquoy-Hendrickx, L’iconographie d’Antoine van Dyck: Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 1 (Brussels: Royal Library Albert I, 1991), p. 127, cat. no. 31.
• New Hollstein Dutch 56: Simon Turner, The New Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings, and Woodcuts 1450–1700, vol. 2 (Rotterdam: Sound and Vision, 2002), p. 28, cat. no. 56.
• Rijksmuseum, object number RP-P-OB-7850: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200209470
• British Museum, museum number 1863,0509.901: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1863-0509-901

Price & Shipping:

AU$288 (approximately US$202.62 / €181.46 / £151.33), including worldwide express shipping. Any applicable import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

To enquire about this fine portrait of Adam de Coster, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I’ll be happy to send you a PayPal invoice for a straightforward payment.

Please note: The scan contrast has been digitally enhanced to show the print’s details more clearly. As a result, the image tones may not fully reflect the subtle tonal qualities of the original.

Alphonse Leroy, “Plate XXIII: Caryatid”, c. 1858

Alphonse Leroy (aka Alphonse Alexandre Leroy) (1820–1902)

“Plate XXIII: Caryatid”, c. 1858

Contextual Commentary:

Although the plate bears the historic title, “Caryatid”, and is lettered on the lower left as being after a drawing by the Italian painter and sculptor, Daniele da Volterra (1509–1566)—“Dessiné par Daniel de Volterre.”—Guermonprez and Lothe (2007) in their catalogue of Leroy’s prints propose that the subject “actually depicts a man with one leg bent behind him, carrying a load on his left shoulder” (p. 158).

Importantly, the attribution of the original drawing has evolved since Leroy's time. Originally documented in early Louvre inventories under Da Volterra's name, the drawing is currently recognised by the Louvre as a work by Baccio Bandinelli (1493–1560) tentatively depicting Atlas (inv. no. 1504). Fascinatingly, modern scholarship notes the figure's pose directly dialogues with Michelangelo's famous Atlas Slave sculpture.

The historical confusion between these two artists adds a layer of irony to the print: Da Volterra and Bandinelli were artistic polar opposites. While Da Volterra was a loyal disciple embedded in Michelangelo’s closest personal and professional circle, Bandinelli was Michelangelo's bitterest Florentine rival, completely isolated from his sphere.

Curiously, the 19th-century letterer who prepared the copper plate made a significant historical blunder in the lower margin, engraving Da Volterra's dates as "né en 1609, mort á Rome en 1666"—accidentally aging the Renaissance master by an entire century.

Technical Details & Condition:

Crayon-manner engraving printed in sanguine coloured ink on buff coloured chine collé (China paper) on a sheet of blue wove paper as issued.

This is plate XXIII (23) from the series of 31 plates commissioned under the patronage of Count Alfred Émilien O'Hara van Nieuwerkerke (1811–1892) after old master drawings transcribed as engravings to be used as drawing lesson studies (“Cours de Dessin”) in “Collection de dessins originaux de grands maîtres gravés en fac-simile par Alphonse Leroy; avec texte explicatif par MM. F. Reiset et F. Villot, conservateurs du Musée Imperial du Louvre”. The engraving was printed in Paris by L. Eudes and published by Dusacq & Cie around 1860 (with later compiled reissues extending into the 1870s).

The impression is crisp and well-printed—nearly faultless. The sheet is in near-pristine condition, completely free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, or significant stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 53.8 x 33.7 cm
• Chine collé: 45.9 x 27.3 cm
• Image borderline: 37.9 x 23.5 cm

In-Plate Lettering:

• Above the image: (centre) “COURS DE DESSIN / FAC-SIMILE DES GRANDS MAITRES.”; (right) “PL. XXIII”
• Below the image: (left) “Dessiné par Daniel de Volterre.”; (centre) “Impe. Eudes Paris / Daniel de Volterre, Peintre et Sculpteur, él[è]ve de Michel ange, né en 1609, mort [à] Rome en 1666. / DUSACQ & Cie Boulevart Poissonnière. 14. Paris”; (right) “Gravé par Alphonse Leroy.”

References:

• Guermonprez & Lothe 66 (Paul Guermonprez & José Lothe, “Alphonse Leroy Graveur 1820–1902”, 2007, Paris, Héritage Architecturel, p. 158, cat. no. 66).
• IFF 19 (Jacques Lethève & Françoise Gardey, “Inventaire du Fonds Français après 1800: LEPAN–LYS”, vol. 14, 1967, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Estampes, p. 144, cat. no. 19) — Available via Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Gallica): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5489453g/f156.item Note: The BNF's specific institutional exemplar for this entry is an incomplete 1873 compilation containing 26 plates that lacks plate XXIII.

Price & Shipping:

AU$261 (approximately US$183.51 / €1,663.89 / £136.78), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties, if any, are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in purchasing this large crayon-manner engraving designed as a drawing lesson study, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Please note: To show the print's fine details as clearly as possible, the scan contrast has been digitally enhanced. Consequently, the image tones may not be a perfectly faithful representation of the subtleties of the print.