Unidentified printmaker after Salvator Rosa’s etching, “Nude in Contemplation, Seated on a Rocky Ledge”

Unidentified printmaker after Salvator Rosa (1615–1673)

“Nude in Contemplation, Seated on a Rocky Ledge” (TIB title) (aka “A Female Nude, Seated Asleep in a Wilderness”), c.1656–57, from the series, “Figurine” (Little Figures), inscribed in drypoint with Rosa’s monogram (SR) in reverse.

Etching and drypoint on laid paper with a narrow margin around the platemark.

Size: (sheet) 14.4 x 9.7 cm; (plate) 14 x 9.3 cm.

Inscribed on plate with Rosa’s monogram (SR) in reverse at lower-left.

Copy after TIB 45 (20). 85 (291) (Mark Carter Leach & Richard W. Wallace [eds.] 1982, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Italian Masters of the Seventeenth Century”, vol. 45, New York, Abaris Books, p. 296, cat. no. 85 [291]); Wallace 86 (Richard W. Wallace 1979, “The Etchings of Salvator Rosa”, Princeton, Princeton University Press, p. 225, cat. no. 86).

The British Museum and the Rijksmuseum offer descriptions of Rosa’s etching:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_W-7-59;

http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.167085.

Condition: strong impression trimmed with a narrow margin around the platemark. There is a pinhole at the upper-left corner and slight discolouration at the upper-right corner, otherwise the sheet is in an excellent condition.

I am selling this etching by an unidentified printmaker after Rosa’s etching, for the total cost of AU$291 (currently US$190.40/EUR173.95/GBP155.32 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 old-master copy of Rosa’s design, which Rosa may have reinvented from Odoardo Fialetti’s (1573–1626/7) etching, “Venus and Cupid both asleep”, 1617, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Odoardo Fialetti's etchings, "Plate 8" and "Plate 9", 1608

Odoardo Fialetti (1573–1626/1627)

(upper) “Plate 8: Three Male Heads in a Row Facing Left” (aka “Three Busts of Men, in Profile”; “Trois bustes d’nommes vus de profil …” [Bartsch title], 1608.

(lower) “Plate 9: Three Male Heads in a Row Facing Right” (aka “Three Busts of Old Men, in Profile”; “Trois bustes de vieillardes vus de profil et tournés vers la droite” [Bartsch title], 1608.

Both etchings are from the series of 38 plates to two drawing manuals of instruction, “Il vero modo et ordine per dissegnar tutte le parte et membra del corpo humano” (The true way and order to draw all the parts and members of the human body), published in 1608 by Justus Sadeler (1583–1620) in Venice. This pair of impressions is from a later edition with changes to the plate numbers and with the addition of the letter “B”.

The pedagogy behind the series of instructional plates is, according to the Curator of the British Museum (see BM no. 2AA+,a.11.1), “to divide the human body systematically into its parts, providing models for copying them individually and then for putting them together. The starting point was the head, divided into its parts, beginning with the eyes and going on to the ears, nose, mouth and chin, with finally the whole head". From what I understand, the student begins with copying simple outlines (i.e. no shading) from the plates in this manual with the order of the plates offering advances in complexity before ultimately moving to study three-dimensional casts with shading.

Alexandra Arvilla Greist discusses the recently discovered text that accompanied these plates in her article in the “Burlington Magazine”, January 2014, pp.12-18.

Etchings on separate sheets of laid paper backed with a support sheet.

Size: (each sheet) 13.7 x 20.1 cm; (each plate) 10.2 x 14.3 cm.

Both etchings inscribed on plate with the plate numbers in upper right corners (“8” and “9”) and along the lower edge: (upper plate at right) “B. 7” and (lower plate at left) “B. 8”.  

(Plate 8) TIB 38(17).219(299) (Sebastian Buffa [ed.] “The Illustrated Bartsch: Italian Artists of the Sixteenth Century”, vol. 38, New York, Abaris Books, p. 325); Bartsch XVII.299.219

See the description of this print at the British Museum:

https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1450015&partId=1&searchText=ODOARDO+FIALETTI&page=2

(Plate 9) TIB 38(17).220(299); Bartsch XVII.299.220

See the description of this print at the British Museum:

https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1450012&partId=1&searchText=ODOARDO+FIALETTI&page=2

Condition: two well-printed strong impressions with margins in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, losses, abrasions, stains, foxing or significant signs of handling) laid upon a single archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper.

I am selling this pair of early etchings from Fialetti’s instructional drawing book—published two years after Rembrandt was born—for AU$408 (currently US$278.46/EUR251.25/GBP212.35 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 pair of etchings designed to help art students learn how to draw heads in incremental stages, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This pair of prints have been sold

Odoardo Fialetti’s etching, “A Satyr with a Jawbone Striking a Lion who attacks a Man”, c1625

Odoardo Fialetti (1573–1626/27)

“A Satyr with a Jawbone Striking a Lion who attacks a Man” (TIB title), c1625, from the series of ten plates (including the titlepiece), “Vertical Grotesques” (aka “Disegni varii di Polifilo Zancarli”), after Polifilo Giancarli (fl.c.1620–57) (“Disegni varii di Polifilo Zancarli”), possibly published by Tasio Giancarli (fl.1625) in Venice.

Etching with plate tone on laid paper with small margins backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 25.4 x 16.4 cm; (plate) 23.9 x 15 cm; (image borderline) 22.4 x 14.7 cm

Inscribed on plate below the image borderline: (left) ”Poliphilvs Giancarli In.”; (right) “OF [monogram] inci”

State i (of i)

TIB 38.49 (Sebastian Buffa [ed.) 1983, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Italian Artist of the Sixteenth Century”, vol. 38, p. 239); Bartsch XVII.280.49; Berlin 1939 559 (P Jessen 1939, “Katalog der Ornamentstichsammlung der Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek Berlin”, Berlin).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

(transl.) “The lower body of the man who gets bitten ends in a leaf with flowers. Leaf from series of 10 sheets with vertical panels full of foliage, figures and animals.”

(http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.460142)

See also the description of this print at the British Museum:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1448971&partId=1&searchText=Odoardo+Fialetti+&page=1

Condition: crisp impression showing very little wear to the printing plate in very good condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions but there are a few minor marks commensurate to the age of the print). The sheet has small margins and is laid onto a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this exceptionally rare etching for AU$350 in total (currently US$249.95/EUR217.90/GBP191.78 at the time of posting 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 early masterpiece of ornamental design, 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

Although I often stumble into the dangerous territory of making broad generalisations, I feel compelled once again to propose a sweeping statement that helps to explain the slightly silvery quality of this rather beautiful etching … (hold your breath for a second as I make a statement that I will probably regret in the future): Italian printmakers and draughtsmen in the 16^th and 17^th centuries tended to use organic based blacks which lends their artworks a greyish tonality compared to the German artists of the same period who tended to use mineral based blacks which gives their artworks strong tonal contrasts.

Now that I’ve made my very arguable proposal, this print is not an impression taken from a worn plate, but rather it is an impression made with a greyish coloured ink. If I may go a little further with very debatable generalisations—and this time I fully expect to be hauled over hot coals—Italian printmakers tend to be less fastidious in the way that they ink and pull their prints compared to the German printmakers of this time period. This leaning not to care too much helps to explain the curiously interesting thumb print of the printmaker that may be seen on the left arm of the chap being attacked by the lion. Lack of concern, also helps to explain the crumbled edge on the left side of this impression that signals (at least to me) that the press pressure was not adjusted perfectly.

(My apologies if my sweeping statements are too sweeping.)