Bernard Lépicié's engraving, “Jupiter and Lo”, 1729

Bernard Lépicié (aka François Bernard Lépicié; Bernard L'Epicie; Bernard Lépicier) (1698–1755)

“Jupiter and Lo”, 1729, after Perino del Vaga (aka Piero Buonaccorsi) (1501–1547), formerly (as inscribed on plate) attributed to Giulio Romano (aka Giulio Giannuzzi; Giulio Pippi) (1499–1546), plate 58 (as inscribed on plate) from the series of 140 plates commissioned by Pierre Crozat (1665–1740) to reproduce “famous paintings and drawings of the era” (see BM no. 1907,1121.14 for a discussion of this series), “Recueil d'estampes d'après les plus beaux tableaux et d'après les plus beaux desseins qui sont en France” (Collection of prints from the most beautiful paintings and the most beautiful designs that are in France) (aka “Recueil Crozat”; “Cabinet Crozat”) published in 1729.

Regarding the attribution of the original design of this plate, the Curator of the British Museum offers the following insight:

“The first of five plates from the 'Cabinet Crozat' … after the cartoons of the 'Loves of Jupiter'. These used to be attributed to Giulio Romano, and were first recognised as being Perino's documented designs of c.1531/2 for the tapestries in the salone di Giove in the Palazzo Doria in Genoa by Davidson in 1988” (see BM no. 1855,0609.138).

Engraving with etching on heavy laid paper with wide margins as published and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 53.7 x 41 cm; (plate) 35 x 31 cm; (image borderline) 26.6 x 27.6 cm.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (centre) “Jupiter et Lo./ d'Après le Carton de Jules Romain, qui est dans le Cabinet de Monseigneur le Duc d'Orleans/ haut de 8. pieds, 6. pouces, large de 8. pieds 11. pouces, gravé par Bernard L'Epicier”; (right corner) “58”.

IFF, vol. XIV, no. 13, p. 373 (Département des Estampes 1930, “Inventaire du Fonds, Français: graveurs du XVIIe siècle”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale); LeBl. 8 (Charles Le Blanc 1854, “Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes, contenant un dictionnaire des graveurs de toutes les nations : ouvrage destiné à faire suite au Manuel du libraire par J.Ch. Brunet”, Paris).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Jupiter reaching forward towards the nymph Io, after the cartoon by Perino del Vaga for the tapestries of the Loves of Jupiter.”

(https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3221014&page=5&partId=1&peoA=123436-2-23&people=123436)

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

https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/237979?position=4

Condition: well-printed early impression with full margins (as published?). There are a few small tears to the margin edges of the sheet otherwise it is in excellent condition and laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper.

I am selling this superbly executed engraving showing Jupiter’s seduction (manhandling) of the lovely Lo before she “transformed into a beautiful heifer and wandered the world, tormented by a gadfly” (as explained in the BM’s biography for Lo), for AU$205 (currently US$139.34/EUR126.40/GBP108.42 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 mythological scene rendered with sublime skill—note, for example, how the engraver is able to describe the slightly darker skin tone of Jupiter’s tanned body compared to Lo’s paleness and how the skin of the figures is slightly more matte than the sheen of the eagle’s feathers that Lo rests her hand upon (mindful that the eagle is a symbol of Jupiter)—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

Giorgio Ghisi’s engraving of “Neptune with Two Marine Horses”

Giorgio Ghisi (aka Giorgio Mantovano) (1520–82)

“Neptune with Two Marine Horses”, c.1560, after Perino del Vaga (1501–47).

Engraving on laid paper with a watermark, trimmed to the image borderline. 

Size: (sheet) 23.7 x 15.1 cm

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Neptune standing naked holding a fork, his cape billowing behind, below are two sea horses, after Perino del Vaga” and the BM’s curator advises that this print “is thought to be after Perino del Vaga, from a series of four (two feature Neptune, two feature Thetis).” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1613650&partId=1&searchText=Giorgio+ghisi&page=1)

Note that the BM’s impression is in a damaged condition whereas this impression is perfect.

Bellini 1998 F.20 (Bellini, Paolo, “L'Opera incisa di Giorgio Ghisi”, 1998); Lewis 1985 R.2.I/II (Boorsch, S.; Lewis, R. E., “The Engravings of Giorgio Ghisi”, 1985; Bartsch XV.397.31 (Bartsch, Adam, “Le Peintre graveur”, 21 vols, Vienna, 1803)

Condition: a superb lifetime impression from the 16^th century of the utmost rarity, trimmed at the image borderline, with a watermark and in exceptional condition for its age with remnants of corner mounts (verso).

I am selling this engraving of exceptional rarity (this print has not been listed in an International auction for 25 years!) for AU$573 in total (currently US$429.86/EUR383.05/GBP326.21 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this museum-quality engraving that is so rare that even the most important texts on Renaissance prints fail to feature a quality illustration of it (see, for example, the poor impression held by the British Museum even “The Illustrated Bartsch” [(1986) 31-1 (398), p. 83] only shows a copy by an unidentified artist made after it), 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

Giorgio Ghisi is one of the more important 16^th century printmakers and the reason is not simply that his use of the burin (i.e. the engraver’s tool) is delicately sympathetic to the subjects he portrays, but that he was able to craft images that moved beyond a formulaic approach to rendering. What I mean by this—and I apologise in advance to those that may not agree with me—is that many of his fellow engravers at the time, especially those in Italy, tended to use an almost perfunctory/arbitrary code of mark-making for their prints. By contrast, Ghisi ensured that his use of line and dot was critically important to the subject portrayed.

Evelyn Lincoln’s (1999) in “The Invention of the Italian Renaissance Printmaker” offers the following insight into Ghisi’s approach: “Giorgio Ghisi avoided … mechanical shading combinations and difficult-to-read images by working the surfaces of his plates until they were so covered with tone that he could pick out the brightest lights by judiciously opening the net of marks” (p. 125).