Nicolò Nelli, “Saint Mark”, c. 1570–75, after Aldegrever and Pencz

Nicolò Nelli (active 1552–1579)

“Saint Mark”, circa 1570–1575 (Post-Tridentine period)

Dating Note:

The textual layout and vernacular liturgical structure of this leaf align perfectly with the standardised scriptural reforms established after 1570. This identification indicates that the leaf was produced during Nelli’s mature Venetian workshop period. Interestingly, the elegant Roman lapidary display font used for the header text on the verso was the industry standard in leading publishing workshops of Venice during the 1570s.

Technical Details & Condition:

Engraving on fine handmade Renaissance laid paper, trimmed with a small margin around the platemark with letterpress Italian text verso. The engraving was created after the 1539 print by Heinrich Aldegrever (1502–1561), from the series “The Four Evangelists”—see a copy of Aldegrever’s print in the MET collection: Object Number 60.650.2 (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/428374). Aldegrever’s work, in turn, was based on a design by Georg Pencz (circa 1500–1550). 

This leaf was published in Venice by Nicolò Nelli to illustrate a post-Tridentine Epistole e Vangeli (Epistles and Gospels in the vernacular), used for Sunday homilies. The verso heading indicates a liturgical reading: “DOMENICA SECONDA DELL' AVVENTO / EPISTOLA DI SAN PAOLO APOSTOLO A' ROMANI. Cap. 15”—the Second Sunday of Advent, Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans, Chapter 15.

This is a strong, crisp lifetime impression, showing no signs of wear to the printing plate. The sheet exhibits minor, uniform age-toning appropriate for a 16th-century leaf but remains in remarkable condition—completely free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, foxing, or significant staining.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 17.5 x 13 cm
• Platemark: 16.8 x 12.4 cm

In-Plate lettering:

• Lower left corner: “N N for.” (Nicolò Nelli formis)

Price & Shipping:

AU$370 (approximately US$265.94 / €228.10 / £195.68, subject to daily exchange rates). Price includes worldwide express shipping. Please note that destination import duties and local taxes remain the sole responsibility of the buyer.

If you’re interested in acquiring this exceptionally rare engraving depicting Saint Mark—the Evangelist writing his Gospel while seated on a cloud and accompanied by his lion attribute—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I’ll gladly provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless transaction.

This print has been sold

Gaspare Osello’s engraving, “The Annunciation with Prophets”, 1576, after Cornelis Cort and Federico Zuccaro

Gaspare Osello (c.1530–after 1590)

“The Annunciation with Prophets”, 1576, engraving in the same direction after Cornelis Cort’s (1533–1578) engraving (1571) and after the design by Federico Zuccaro (aka Federico Zuccari; Federigo Zuccaro; Federico Zucchero) (c.1542–1609), published by Nicolò Nelli in Venice (fl.1552–1579) in 1576.

Arguably Federico Zuccaro’s design was originally made for a fresco (sadly destroyed in the 1600s) in the church of Santa Maria Annunziata in Rome. There is also an interesting proposal that the design was created specifically for Cornelis Cort’s engraving for which there is a large pen and ink drawing by Federico Zuccaro in the Louvre (Louvre, inv. no.v4539)—an explanation of the two possibilities are offered in the description of Cornelis Cort’s engraving (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1917-1208-675-1-2),

Note that other printmakers also made engravings after Cornelis Cort’s engraving which in turn is after Federico Zuccaro’s design; see Girolamo Olgiati’s (fl.1567–1574) engraving (1572) (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_V-8-190) and Raphael Sadeler I’s (1560/61–1628/32) engraving (1580) (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_2002-0127-36).

Engraving on laid paper trimmed unevenly around the platemark with a small margin and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet trimmed unevenly) 32.1 x 49.8 cm; (plate) 30.5 x 48.1 cm; (outer image borderline) 30.4 x 47.8 cm.

Inscribed in plate with fecit note: (right of centre on lower edge) “Gaspar ab Auibus/ Patavinus Fecit.” Note that there are ten other tablets with Latin text.

Lettered in plate in Latin: (along the writing edge at centre) “Opus quod in æde Virginis Deiparæ Annunciaæ Collegii Romani societatis IESV Federicus Zuccarus S. Angeli in Vado ad Ripas Mitauri perfecit æneis tabellis expressum/ Venetiis Nicolaus Nellius ad Archam Noè excud. 1576”.

Condition: a well-printed but slightly grey impression with small margins around the platemark. The sheet has numerous pale stains and is laid onto a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this large and rare engraving showing prophets on either side of the annunciation scene, portrayed at lower centre, with God and the descending holy spirit (the dove) represented above this scene surrounded by a host of angels playing music and framed by Adam and Eve resting in the upper corners of the composition, for AU$484 (currently US$323.51/EUR292.71/GBP257.67 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 grand portrayal of the annunciation and heaven—and an interesting representation of blazing light and sound in a static visual image from the late1500s—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Nicolò Nelli engraving, “The Last Judgement”, 1576, after Michelangelo

Nicolò Nelli (fl.1552–79) or an unidentified engraver from the circle of Nicolò Nelli.

“The Last Judgement”, 1576, after Martino Rota (1520–83), after Michelangelo’s (1475–1564) fresco in the Sistine Chapel, published by Niccolò Nelli.

Note: FAMSF holds another version of this print published by Nelli, but in reverse; see: https://art.famsf.org/martino-rota/last-judgment-19633036438. The BM holds a copy of Rota’s print that this engraving is based; see: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3223685&partId=1&searchText=martin+rota+last+judgement&page=1

Engraving on laid paper trimmed close to the image borderline with thread margins and lined onto a conservator’s support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 26.2 x 18.9 cm

Condition: crisp impression trimmed to thread margins around the image borderline. The sheet is in good condition (i.e. there are no significant stains, tears, holes, folds, abrasions or foxing) and it has been laid upon a conservator’s support sheet.

I am selling this beautifully executed engraving of Michelangelo’s masterpiece for AU$370 (currently US$293.07/EUR247.68/GBP224.07 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this engraved translation of Michelangelo’s famous fresco executed only 35 years after Michelangelo finished work on the painting, 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

This is the third reproductive version of Michelangelo’s famous fresco that I have listed and it is probably the most sensitively executed of all the prints.

What may be slightly baffling are the discrepancies in these copies of the same painting and this leads me to point out that there would be very few—if any—early printmakers who physically sat in front of the paintings and sculptures that they reproduced. Instead, the practice at the time was to rely on drawings upon which they modelled their prints. As can be imagined, a mixture of inaccuracies in the drawn copy and the creative needs of printmakers to “fix” perceived weaknesses in the artwork reproduced can lead to significant alterations should a copy be based on another copy that was based on a drawing. Certainly this is the case with this print as it is a copy of Martino Rota’s reproductive print which in turn was a copy of an anonymous artist’s print. Going further, this print may also be a copy of a copy of Rota’s print as FAMSF holds another version of this same image published by Nelli, but in reverse. My mind boggles with the little changes that inevitably occur with all this copying.

As a point of comparison between Rota’s version and the FAMSF’s copy in reverse, an examination of the portrait medallion/roundel of Michelangelo at age 73 shown at top of the composition is interesting (see: https://art.famsf.org/martino-rota/last-judgment-19633036434  and https://art.famsf.org/martino-rota/last-judgment-19633036437).