Michel Dorigny’s etching, “Aurora and Cephalus”, 1642, after Simon Vouet

Michel Dorigny (1616–1665)

“Aurora and Cephalus” (aka “Aurora and Cephalum”; “L'Aurore et Céphale”; “Aurora and Kephalos”), 1642, after a painting by Michel Dorigny’s father-in-law, Simon Vouet (1590–1649), showing the goddess of the dawn, Aurora, carrying away the shepherd, Cephalus, while his hound sleeps. Below the image is inscribed the couplet: (transl.) “It is Aurora that seizes: She carries Cephalus above the ether. Such a noble theft cannot be without light.”

This lifetime impression (based on the quality of line) was formerly in the APF Robert-Dumesnil (1778–1864) collection and bears the collector’s tiny oval blindstamp (Lugt 2200 [p. 410]) on the lower edge. Note that Robert_Dumesnil famously wrote the eleven-volume catalogue raisonné, “Le Peintre-Graveur Français …” which includes the full catalogue of Michel Dorigny’s prints (including this print) in the fourth volume.

Etching with engraving on fine laid paper, trimmed slightly unevenly around the platemark and bearing the oval collection blindstamp of Robert-Dumesnil.

Size: (sheet) 24.6 x 16.5 cm; (image borderline) 22.1 x 15.8 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Simon voüet pinxit.”; (centre) “Quæ rapit, Aurora est: Cephalum super æthera portat./ Nobile tam furtum luce carere nequit./ Cum priuilegio Regis 1642”; (right) “M.Dorigny Sculpsit.”

Robert-Dumesnil 86 (APF Robert-Dumesnil 1835, “Le peintre-graveur français, ou Catalogue raisonné des estampes gravées par les peintres et les dessinateurs de l'école française: ouvrage faisant suite au Peintre-graveur de M. Bartsch”, vol. IV, Paris, p. 284, cat. no. 86 [see https://archive.org/details/bnf-bpt6k65579588/page/n303/mode/2up]); IFF 86 (Roger-Armand Weigert 1954, “Inventaire du Fonds Francais Apres 1800”, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, vol. III, p. 485, cat. no. 86).

Robert-Dumesnil (1835, vol. 4) offers the following description of this print that was formerly in his collection: (transl.) “Aurora, aided by Amours and Zephyrs, kidnaps the shepherd Cephalus, whose dog is sleeping on the ground” (p. 284).

See also the descriptions of this print offered by the Rijksmuseum and the British Museum: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/RP-P-H-H-153; https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1841-1211-39-96.

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed impression, trimmed unevenly around the platemark in near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of handling.

I am selling this superb (museum quality) etching bearing the tiny collection blindstamp of the famous catalogue raisonné compiler of French School prints, Robert-Dumesnil, for the total cost of AU$423 (currently US$295.25/EUR272.66/GBP241.34 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 rare etching, 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

Michel Dorigny's engraving, “The Destruction of Niobe's Children”, 1651, after Simon Vouet

Michel Dorigny (1616–1665)

“The Destruction of Niobe's Children” (aka “Death of Niobe’s Children” (Dood van Niobes kinderen [Rijksmuseum title]), 1651, from a suite of nine plates, “Mythological or Allegorical Subjects” (Robert-Dumesnil [1835] nos. 123–131; see https://archive.org/details/bnf-bpt6k65579588/page/n315/mode/2up), after a painting by Simon Vouet (1590–1649), published with royal privilege from Louis XIV (King of France).

Etching and engraving on laid paper

Size: (sheet) 36 x 28.8 cm; (plate) 25.4 x 20.9 cm; (image borderline) 21.5 x 19.4 cm.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) “S. Voüet pinxit”; (centre) “Cum privilegio Regis”; (right) “Mich. Dorigny Sculp. 1651.”

IFF 125 (Département des Estampes 1939–, “Inventaire du Fonds, Français: graveurs du XVIIe siècle”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, vol. 3, p. 488, cat. 125); Robert-Dumesnil 1835-71 IV.297.125 (A P F Robert-Dumesnil 1835, “Le Peintre-Graveur Français”, vol. 4, Paris, [Bouchard-Huzard], p. 297, cat. 125).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“The slaying of the Niobids by Apollo and Diana, with the latter in the upper right firing arrows to kill the fourteen sons and daughters of Niobe who is in foreground left shielding herself”

(https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3042431&partId=1&searchText=DORIGNY+apollo&page=1).

See also the description of this print at the Rijksmuseum:

http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.331212.

For those unfamiliar with the story of Niobe illustrated here, she was the proud mother of fourteen children (seven boys and seven girls) who regrettably boasted about her fecundity and ridiculed Leto (the mother of Apollo and Artemis) about Leto’s poor performance in the art of baby-making. In response to Niobe’s hubris and offensive lack of tact, Leto let loose her children (Apollo and Artemis shown in the sky) to kill all of Niobe’s children with poisoned arrows. Shocking! Even more disturbing, all of Niobe’s dead children were left unburied for nine days while Niobe lamented and stopped eating as she turned to stone.

Condition: well-printed impression with wide margins. The sheet is in excellent condition for its considerable age (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, losses, abrasions, significant stains or foxing).

I am selling this allegorical engraving about hubris and the outcome of hurtful boasting, for AU$266 (currently US$177.87/EUR164.20/GBP136.46 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 graphically strong scene from classical mythology, 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

Michel Dorigny's etching, “Four Amors with a Goat Picking Grapes”, c1630

(Attrib.) Michel Dorigny (1616–1665)

“Four Amors with a Goat Picking Grapes” (Rijksmuseum title), c1630 (1622–1652), from the series of 12 plates after Nicolas Chaperon (aka Nicolas Chapron) (1612–1654/5), “Recueil de diverses Bacchanales” (aka “Recueil de douze Bacchanales”), published by René Guérineau (c1605–1664).

The Curator of the British Museum advises that a “related drawing is in the Louvre (inv. 25199, recto)”. Regarding this series, the Curator explains that the print is from “a series of plates engraved by Chapron and Dorigny (among others) and representing dionysiac scenes; the plates described by Robert-Dumesnil (IV.254.12-17) are all anonymous and it is therefore difficult to attribute them with certitude. Him [Robert-Dumesnil] and P.J. Mariette attribute them to Dorigny” (BM no. 1974,0720.4).

Etching and engraving on laid paper trimmed around the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 29.6 x 20.9 cm; (image borderline) 29 x 20.9 cm.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) “Chapperon inuentor et pinxit.”; (right) Guerineau excud Cum Priuilegio Regis.”

Robert-Dumesnil VI.254.13 (APF Robert-Dumesnil 1835–71, “Le peintre-graveur français, ou catalogue raisonné des estampes gravées par les peintres et les dessinateurs de l'école française: ouvrage faisant suite au peintre-graveur de Bartsch”, Paris, vol. 6, p. 254, cat.no. 13); IFF 13 (Département des Estampes 1930, “Inventaire du Fonds, Français: graveurs du XVIIe siècle”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Boy, sitting on the back of a goat kept in leash by a young satyr, and stretching out his arm to pick up a bunch of grapes held by a putto in a tree”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1467448&partId=1&searchText=Michel+DORIGNY+&page=1)

See also the description offered by the Rijksmuseum:

http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.92243

Condition: well-printed impression trimmed along the image borderline and backed with a support sheet of fine archival/millennium quality washi paper. There are restorations around the tree foliage at the upper right and there are a few tears on the lower edge of the sheet which have been addressed by the sheet having been backed with a support sheet.

I am selling this strikingly beautiful bacchanalian scene executed with supreme confidence, for AU$300 (currently US$207.01/EUR183.70/GBP163.58 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 marvellous example of the Baroque period style, 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

Michel Dorigny's etching, “Putti and Fauns Climbing a Grapevine”, c1650, after Nicolas Chaperon

Michel Dorigny (1616–1665)

“Putti and Fauns Climbing a Grapevine” (NGA title) (aka “Bacchanal of Children”), c1650, plate 1 from the series of 12 plates after Nicolas Chaperon (aka Nicolas Chapron) (1612–1654/5), “Recueil de diverses Bacchanales” (aka “Recueil de douze Bacchanales”), possibly published by René Guérineau (c1605–1664).

Regarding this series, the Curator of the British Museum advises:

“From a series of plates engraved by Chapron and Dorigny (among others) and representing dionysiac scenes; the plates described by Robert-Dumesnil (IV.254.12-17) are all anonymous and it is therefore difficult to attribute them with certitude. Him [Robert-Dumesnil] and P.J. Mariette attribute them to Dorigny” (BM no. 1974,0720.4).

Etching and engraving on laid paper with narrow margins around the platemark with a collector’s stamp verso.

Size: (sheet) 18.7 x 16.5 cm; (indistinct plate) 18.4 x 16.3 cm; (image borderline) 18 x 15.9 cm.

Numbered on plate below the image borderline: (right) “1”.

IFF 137 (Département des Estampes 1930, “Inventaire du Fonds, Français: graveurs du XVIIe siècle”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Three putti and young satyr helping another young satyr to climb a tree; on the right, a putti feeding a goat with grapes”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1470299&partId=1&searchText=Michel+DORIGNY+&page=1)

See also the description of this print at the National Gallery of Art, Washington:

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.134411.html

Condition: richly inked and well-printed early impression with narrow margins. There is faint foxing otherwise the sheet is in good condition for its age. The back (verso) of the sheet has a collector’s stamp, mounting remnants and what seems to be a patch of restoration tape closing a small tear.

I am selling this strong museum-quality etching executed with supreme confidence—note how each stroke helps to explain not only the forms of the mythological children but also where they play in believable space where air can freely move around them—for AU$300 (currently US$209.97/EUR186.32/GBP165.28 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 perfect example of the Baroque period style, 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

Shadows (Part 1): Rodin, Brown & Dorigny

What are some of the principles underpinning how artists portray shadows?

Over the last few years, Auguste Rodin’s (1840–1917) six bronze figures that make up his sculpture group, The Burghers of Calais, have made their way into my life. My studio is now dotted with models, drawings and prints about this moody group of figures and I know that the root of my interest in them is all about the play of light and shadow on their forms. For instance, last night I spent my evening drawing Rodin’s emotionally burdened, Andrieu d’Andres (shown below). My attention focused on modelling the figure’s form out of a mass of dark bronze reflections and shadows set against a stark white background. In short, my present preoccupation with shadows is driving the following discussion. Its focus is on key principles and conventions behind portraying shadows: the principles that artists apply when constructing shadows; traditional approaches used to represent shadows; and, the conventions underpinning chiaroscuro lighting (i.e. theatrically dramatic lighting featuring sharp contrast of light and shadow). As the scope of the topic is large, I will break the discussion into three parts and for the first part I will deal with the construction of shadows.

Detail of Auguste Rodin’s Andrieu d’Andres

(one of six figures featured in The Burghers of Calais)

James Brown

Andrieu d’Andres after Rodin, 2013

Pen and ink on 300gsm Saunders Waterford watercolour paper

75.5 x 56 cm

I am selling this drawing for $850 AUD including postage and handling to anywhere in the world. Please contact me using the email link at the top of the page if you are interested or click the “Buy Now” button below.

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With regard to the principles for constructing shadows on the ground, there are five fundamental points in an image for an artist to establish (see illustration below). The first of these points (see “A” in the illustration) is the centre of the light source casting the shadow. The second point (see “B” in the illustration) is on the ground vertically below the light source. The third point (see “C” in the illustration) is on the portrayed subject from which the artist wishes to cast a shadow. The fourth point (see “D” in the illustration) is on the ground vertically below the previous point. The fifth point (see “E” in the illustration) is at the far end of the shadow.

Five fundamental points in the construction of shadows

From point A, the artist inscribes a line passing through point C on the subject to mark the farthest point of the shadow cast by point C on the ground. This point on the ground is point E. To determine the angle of the cast shadow, the artist inscribes a line from point B, through point D and the angle of this line establishes the angle of the cast shadow connecting point D with point E (as shown in the illustration below).

Establishing the length and angle of a shadow

Note that the length of a shadow is determined by the angle of a line inscribed from the light source (point A) to the point on the subject casting the shadow. Essentially, this means that shadows are different lengths depending on this angle of incidence (i.e. the angle determined by a line drawn from the light source that tangentially brushes against the subject). For example, in the illustration shown below the shadow cast by the lit candle is much shorter than a shadow that would be cast from the unlit candle.

Shadows vary in length according to the angle of incidence

Note also that the angle of a shadow is determined by inscribing a line from the point on the ground (point B) vertically below the light source to the point on the ground vertically below the point on the subject casting the shadow (point D). This allows for a radiation of shadows when there is more than one subject (as shown below).

Radiating shadow effect

When there is a broad light source illuminating a subject (as opposed to a pin-light for instance) a fractured shadow with three distinctly different tones is cast radiating from the far edges of the light source. In technical terms the dark centre triangle of tone is called the umbra. The lighter outer edge of such a shadow is called the penumbra and the farther out triangle of shadow that is formed is called the antumbra (see illustration below).

Umbra, penumbra and antumbra

The same formation of an umbra and penumbra also occurs when there are two or more lights (see illustration below).  

Umbra and penumbra shadows

Beyond the fundamental rule that shadows are darkest close to the subject casting them and are progressively lighter in tone towards the regions furthest away, there is an optical phenomenon that is also important to artists. This phenomenon, however, is subtle and easily overlooked, but it is important: the effect of simultaneous contrast (discussed in the earlier post, Colour and spatial depth). It is important because the edges of shadows—regardless if they are umbra, penumbra or antumbra—all appear darker than the rest of the shadow as an involuntary optical response by the eye. Or conversely, the centre of each shadow region appears lighter in tone than its edges as may be seen in the cast umbra and penumbra shadows shown below. When an artist takes into account the effect of simultaneous contrast the portrayed shadow nearly always appear luminous.

Simultaneous contrast (note how the tones are lighter in the centre and darker at the edges of the umbra and penumbra regions)

In the next post—Shadows (Part 2)—I will discuss how artists apply the above principles but as a foreshadowing of how the use of simultaneous contrast is applied consider the luminous shadows in Michel Dorigny’s (1617–65) Bacchanal of Children (shown below).

Michel Dorigny (1617–65)

Bacchanal of Children, 1659

Described by the British Museum as “Three putti and young satyr helping another young satyr to climb a tree; on the right, a putti feeding a goat with grapes”

From a suite of twelve prints after Nicolas Chaprond’s bacchanalia

Etching on laid paper

18.8 x 16.5 cm (sheet)

Condition: Strong impression, with fine margins in very good condition. The print has a very small collector’s stamp verso (see below).

I am selling this print for ... [deleted]  including postage and handling to anywhere in the world. Please contact me using the email link at the top of the page if you are interested or click the “Buy Now” button below.

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Verso of Dorigny’s Bacchanal of Children

(right image shows collector’s stamp)

Detail of Dorigny’s Bacchanal of Children

Detail of Dorigny’s Bacchanal of Children