Ferdinand Gaillard’s engraving, “Vierge de Jean Bellin”, 1866, after Giovanni Bellini

Ferdinand Gaillard (aka Claude-Ferdinand Gaillard) (1834–1887)

“Vierge de Jean Bellin”, 1866, engraving after a painting of the Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini (c1459–1516), printed by Alfred Salmon (fl.1863–1894) and published in the “Gazette des Beaux-Arts” (March, 1866, pp. 286–87) in Paris.

Engraving on wove paper backed with a support sheet providing wide margins.

Size: (support sheet) 38 x 27.9 cm; (sheet) 27.2 x 18.1 cm; (plate) 24.1 x 15.9 cm; (image borderline) 18.6 x 12.9 cm.

Inscribed in plate within the image borderline: (lower centre) “JOANNES BELLINVS”.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “JEAN BELLIN PINX^T./ Gazette des Beaux Arts”; (centre) “VIERGE DE JEAN BELLIN.”; (right) “F. GAILLARD SCULP^T./ Imp. A. Salmon à Paris”.

Final state. According to Beraldi (1887), the final state is state iii (of iii) with shading of sky on either side of the canopy behind the Virgin and with publication details for the Gazette des Beaux-Arts. The Grolier Club (1900) advises that there are four states with state iv showing the publication details for the Gazette des Beaux-Arts (p. 4, cat. no. 17).

Beraldi 17 iii (Henri Beraldi 1887, “Les Graveurs du dix-neuvième siècle”, Paris, Librairie L. Conquet, vol. 6, p. 200, cat. no. 17; see: https://archive.org/details/lesgraveursdu19e06berauoft/page/200/mode/2up); IFF 33.

See also the description of this print offered by the Harvard Museums of Art: https://hvrd.art/o/265024.

Condition: a well-printed (near faultless) impression 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 exceptionally fine and very beautiful engraving by one of most famous of the nineteenth century engravers who is described by Félix Bracquemond as the “continuer and renovator of burin engraving” (see Bann’s [2006], p. 124), for the total cost of AU$208 (currently US$145.22/EUR135.11/GBP120.18 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 remarkable print by an engraver with skills that (arguably) will never be surpassed—note the finely rendered, near microscopic, details that are inscribed solely by hand—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Ferdinand Gaillard’s engraving, “La Vierge au Donateur”, 1865, after Giovanni Bellini/Marco Bello

Ferdinand Gaillard (aka Claude Ferdinand Gaillard) (1834–1887)

“La Vierge au Donateur”, 1865, after Giovanni Bellini’s (c1459–1516) painting, “Virgin and Child Blessing a Kneeling Donor, with Four Saints”, c1500, (now reattributed to Marco Bello [c1431/36–1523] after Bellini), that was once in the Galerie Pourtalès (as inscribed on plate), but now in the Morgan Library & Museum, New York City, published in “La Gazette des Beaux-Arts”, in January 1865, and printed by Alfred Salmon (fl.1863–1894) in Paris.

Engraving on buff coloured chine collé (China) on heavy wove paper with wide margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 31.6 x 41.6 cm; (plate) 21.7 x 27.7 cm; (chine collé) 20.5 x 26.3 cm; (image borderline) 14.1 x 20.1 cm.

Lettered below the image borderline: (left) “JEAN BELLIN PINXT./ Gazette des Beaux-Arts.”; (centre) “LA VIERGE AU DONATEUR./ (GALERIE POURTALÈS)”; (left) “F. GAILLARD SCULPT./ Imp. A. Salmon, Paris.”

State iii (of iii) with the addition of lettered publication details.

Beraldi 16 (Henri Beraldi 1885–92, “Les graveurs du 19e siècle; guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes”, vol. 6, Paris, L Conquet, p. 199, cat. no. 16); IFF 33 (Jean Adhémar & Jacques Lethève 1954, “Inventaire du fonds français après 1800”, vol. 8, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Département des estampes, p. 316, cat. no. 33).

Interestingly, in the description of this print Beraldi advises that the engraving is executed by single rows of parallel lines (i.e. almost entirely without cross-hatching): “Gravure exécutée presque avec seul rang tailles” (p. 199).

Note that Henri Beraldi’s catalogue raisonné for Gaillard may be viewed online or downloaded free-of-charge at archive.org:

https://archive.org/details/lesgraveursdu19e06berauoft/page/198/mode/2up.

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Virgin and Child with four saints and donator, after Giovanni Bellini; the Virgin seen three-quarter length, sitting at far right with Christ Child on her lap blessing a donator who kneels before them; St Paul, St George and two female saints looking on”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_2006-U-1331).

See also the description of this print offered by Harvard Art Museums:

https://hvrd.art/o/265023.

Condition: an exceptionally fine, near faultless impression with generously wide margins in pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, losses, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of use).

I am selling this important early engraving by Gaillard, executed in a style that sets him apart from other engravers, as Henri Beraldi (1887) insightfully writes, “…where another engraver would put one line, he [Gaillard] puts ten, thanks to the exceptional keenness of his sight” (“Catalogue of Engravings by Ferdinant Gaillard”, The Grolier Club, p viii), for the total cost of AU$207 (currently US$143.78/EUR127.78/GBP115.18 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 museum-quality impression of a major engraving by one of the finest engravers of 19^th century, 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