,,the ,,fine-,,art ,,library4 ,,edited ,,by ,,john ,c4 ,l4 ,,sparkes1 ,principal of the ,national ,art ,training ,school1 ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,,engraving3 ,,its ,,origin1 ,,processes1 ,,and ,,history4 ,,by ,,le ,,vicomte ,,henri ,,delaborde4 ,,translated ,,by ,r4 ,a4 ,m4 ,,stevenson4 ,with an ,additional ,chapter on ,english ,engraving1 ,,by ,,william ,,walker4 ,,cassell ,,company1 ,,limited3 ,,london1 ,,paris1 ,,new ,,york ,,melbourne4 #ahhf4 ,,all ,,rights ,,reserved4 ,,editorial ,,note4 ,the author of ,la ,gravure1 of which work the present volume is a translation1 has devoted so little attention to ,english ,engraving1 that it has been thought advisable to supplement his somewhat inadequate remarks by a special chapter dealing with this subject4 ,in accordance with this view1 ,mr4 ,william ,walker has contributed an account of the rise and progress of the ,british ,school of ,engraving1 which1 together with his ,chronological ,table of the better-known ,english ,engravers1 will1 we feel sure1 add much to the value of the ,work in the eyes of ,english readers4 ,,contents4 ,,chap4 ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,processes ,,of ,,early ,,engraving4 ,,the ,,beginnings ,,of ,,engraving ,,in ,,relief4 ,,xylography ,,and ,,printing ,,with ,,movable ,,type #a ,,ii4 ,,playing ,,cards4 ,,the ,,dot ,,manner #cj ,,iii4 ,,first ,,attempts ,,at ,,intaglio ,,engraving4 ,,the ,,nielli ,,of ,,the ,,florentine ,,goldsmiths4 ,,prints ,,by ,,the ,,italian ,,and ,,german ,,painter-,,engravers ,,of ,,the ,,fifteenth ,,century #di ,,iv4 ,,line ,,engraving ,,and ,,wood ,,engraving ,,in ,,germany ,,and ,,italy ,,in ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,century #hf ,v4 ,,line ,,engraving ,,and ,,etching ,,in ,,the ,,low ,,countries1 ,,to ,,the ,,second ,,half ,,of ,,the ,,seventeenth ,,century #aah ,,vi4 ,,the ,,beginning ,,of ,,line ,,engraving ,,and ,,etching ,,in ,,france ,,and ,,england4 ,,first ,,attempts ,,at ,,mezzotint4 ,a ,,glance ,,at ,,engraving ,,in ,,europe ,,before #affj #aej ,,vii4 ,,french ,,engravers ,,in ,,the ,,reign ,,of ,,louis ,,xiv #agh ,,viii4 ,,engraving ,,in ,,france ,,and ,,in ,,other ,,european ,,countries ,,in ,,the ,,eighteenth ,,century4 ,,new ,,processes3 ,,stipple1 ,,crayon1 ,,colour1 ,,and ,,aquatint #baa ,,ix4 ,,engraving ,,in ,,the ,,nineteenth ,,century #bdh ,a ,,chapter ,,on ,,english ,,engraving #bhg ,,chronological ,,table ,,of ,,english ,,engravers #cca ,,index #cdc ,,engraving4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,processes ,,of ,,early ,,engraving4 ,,the ,,beginnings ,,of ,,engraving ,,in ,,relief4 ,,xylography ,,and ,,printing ,,with ,,movable ,,type4 ,the nations of antiquity understood and practised engraving1 that is to say1 the art of representing things by incised outlines on metal1 stone1 or any other rigid substance4 ,setting aside even those relics of antiquity in bone or flint which still retain traces of figures drawn with a sharp-pointed tool1 there may yet be found in the ,bible and in ,homer accounts of several works executed by the aid of similar methods2 and the characters outlined on the precious stones adorning the breastplate of the high-priest ,aaron1 or the scenes represented on the armour of ,achilles1 might be quoted amongst the most ancient examples of the art of engraving4 ,the ,egyptians1 ,greeks1 and ,etruscans have left us specimens of goldsmith's work and fragments of all kinds1 which1 at any rate1 attest the practice of engraving in their countries4 ,finally1 every one is aware that metal seals and dies of engraved stone were in common use amongst the ,romans4 ,engraving1 therefore1 in the strict sense of the word1 is no invention due to modern civilisation4 ,but many centuries elapsed before man acquired the art of multiplying printed copies from a single original1 to which art the name of engraving has been extended1 so that nowadays the word signifies the operation of producing a print4 ,of engraving thus understood there are two important processes or methods4 ,by the one1 strokes are drawn on a flat surface1 and afterwards laboriously converted by the engraver into ridges1 which1 when coated with ink1 are printed on the paper in virtue of their projection4 ,by the other1 outlines1 shadows1 and half-tints are represented by incisions intended to contain the colouring matter2 while those parts meant to come out white on paper are left untouched4 ,wood-cutting1 or engraving in relief1 is an example of the first method2 while to the second belongs metal-work or copperplate engraving1 which we now call engraving with the burin1 or line engraving4 ,in order to engrave in relief1 a block1 not less than an inch thick1 of hard1 smooth wood1 such as box or pear1 is used4 ,on this block every detail of the design to be engraved is drawn with pen or pencil4 ,then such places as are meant to come out white in the print are cut away with a sharp tool4 ,thus1 only those places that have been covered beforehand by the pencil or the pen remain at the level of the surface of the block2 they only will be inked by the action of the roller2 and when the block is subjected to the action of the press1 they only will transfer the printing ink to the proof4 ,this method1 earlier than that of the incised line1 led to engraving in camaeu1 which was skilfully practised in ,italy and ,germany during the sixteenth century4 ,as in camaeu engraving those lines which define the contours are left as ridges by the cutting away of the surrounding surface1 we may say that in this method 7which the ,italians call chiaroscuro7 the usual processes of engraving in relief are employed4 ,but it is a further object of camaeu to produce on the paper flat tints of various depths3 that is to say1 a scale of tones somewhat similar to the effect of drawings washed in with ,indian ink or sepia1 and touched up with white4 ,now such a chromatic progression can only be arrived at by the co-operation of distinct processes4 ,therefore1 instead of printing from a single surface1 separate blocks are employed for the outlines1 shadows1 and lights1 and a proof is taken by the successive application of the paper to all these blocks1 which are made to correspond exactly by means of guiding marks4 ,a third style of engraving in relief1 the early dot manner1 was practised for some time during the period of the ,incunabuli1 when the art was1 as the root of this ,latin word shows1 still in its cradle4 ,by this method the work was no longer carried out on wood1 but on metal2 and the engraver1 instead of completely hollowing out those parts destined to print light1 merely pitted them with minute holes1 leaving their bulk in relief4 ,he was content that these masses should appear upon the paper black1 relieved only by the sprinkling of white dots resulting from the hollows4 ,we just mention by way of note the process which produced those rare specimens called empreintes en pte4 ,all specimens of this work are anterior in date to the sixteenth century1 and belong less strictly to art than to industry1 as the process only consisted in producing on paper embossed designs strongly suggesting the appearance of ornaments in embroidery or tapestry4 ,to produce these inevitably coarse figures a sort of half-liquid1 blackish gum or paste was introduced into the hollow portions of the block before printing4 ,on the block thus prepared was placed a sheet of paper1 previously stained orange1 red1 or light yellow1 and the paste contained in the hollow places1 when lodged on the paper1 became a kind of drawing in relief1 something like an impasto of dark colour4 ,this was sometimes powdered with a fluffy or metallic dust before the paste had time to harden4 ,though simple enough as regards the mere process1 in practice line engraving demands a peculiar dexterity4 ,when the outlines of the drawing that is to be copied have been traced and transferred to a plate usually made of copper1#a the metal is attacked with a sharp tool1 called the dry-point4 ,then the trenches thus marked out are deepened1 or fresh ones are made with the graver1 which1 owing to its shape1 produces an angular incision4 ,the appearance of every object represented in the original must be reproduced solely by these incised lines3 at different distances apart1 or tending in various directions3 or by dots and cross-hatchings4 ,line engraving possesses no other resources4 ,moreover1 in addition to the difficulties resulting from the use of a refractory tool1 we must mention the unavoidable slowness of the work1 and the frequent impossibility of correcting faults without having recourse to such drastic remedies as obtaining a fresh surface by re-levelling the plate where the mistakes have been made4 ,etching by means of aquafortis1 originally used by armourers in their damascene work1 is said to have been first applied to the execution of plates in ,germany towards the close of the fifteenth century4 ,since then it has attracted a great many draughtsmen and painters1 as it requires only a short apprenticeship1 and is the quickest kind of engraving4 ,line engravers have not only frequently used etching in beginning their plates1 but have often employed it1 not merely to sketch in their subject1 but actually in conjunction with the burin4 ,many important works owe their existence to the mixture of the two processes1 among others the fine portraits of ,jean ,morin1 and the admirable ,batailles d',alexandre1 engraved by ,grard ,audran1 after ,lebrun4 ,but at present we are only occupied with etching as practised separately and within the limits of its own resources4 ,the artist who makes use of this method has to scoop no laborious furrows4 ,he draws with the needle1 on a copper plate covered with a coating of varnish1 suggestions of form as free as the strokes of pen or pencil4 ,at first these strokes only affect the surface of the copper where the needle has freed the plate from varnish4 ,but they become of the necessary depth as soon as a certain quantity of corrosive fluid has been poured on to the plate1 which is surrounded by a sort of wax rampart4 ,for a length of time proportioned to the effect intended1 the acid is allowed to bite the exposed parts of the metal1 and when the plate is cleaned proofs can be struck off from it4 ,with the exception of such few modifications as characterise prints in the scraped or scratched manner1 called sgraffio1 and in the stippled manner1 the methods of engraving just mentioned are all that have been used in ,europe from the end of the ,middle ,ages up to about the second half of the seventeenth century4 ,we need not1 therefore1 at present mention more recent processes1 such as mezzotint1 aquatint1 c41 each of which we shall touch upon at its proper place in the history of the art4 ,before proceeding with this history1 let us try to recollect the facts with which we have prefaced it2 and1 as chronological order proscribes1 to differentiate and classify the first productions of relief engraving4 ,however formal their differences of opinion on matters of detail1 technical writers hold as certain one general fact4 ,they all agree in recognising that the methods of relief engraving were practised with a view to printing earlier than the method of intaglio4 ,what interval1 however1 separates the two discoveries8 ,at what epoch are we to place the invention of wood engraving8 or if the process1 as has been often alleged1 is of ,asiatic origin1 when was it brought into ,europe8 ,to pretend to give a decisive answer to these questions would be1 at least1 imprudent4 ,conjectures of every sort1 and even the most dogmatic assertions1 are not wanting4 ,but the learned have in vain evoked testimony1 interpreted passages1 and drawn conclusions4 ,they have gone back to first causes1 and questioned the most remote antiquity2 they have sometimes strangely forced the meaning of traditions1 and have too often confounded simple material accidents with the evidences of conscious art properly so called4 ,yet the problem is as far from solution as ever1 and1 indeed1 the number and diversity of opinions have up till now done little but render conviction more difficult and doubt more excusable4 ,our authorities1 for instance1 are not justified in connecting the succession of modern engravers with those men who1 even before the ,deluge1 engraved on trees the history of their times1 their sciences1 and their religion4#b ,nor is the mention by ,plutarch of a certain almost typographical trick of ,agesilaus1 ,king of ,sparta1 excuse enough for those who have counted him among the precursors of ,gutenberg4 ,it is by no means impossible that ,agesilaus1 in a sacrifice to the gods on the eve of a decisive battle may have been clever enough to deceive his soldiers1 by imprinting on the liver of the victim the word ,victory1 already written in reverse on the palm of his hand4 ,but in truth such trickery only distantly concerns art2 and if we are to consider the ,greek hero as the inventor of printing1 we must also allow that it has taken us as long as eighteen centuries to profit by his discovery4 ,we shall therefore consider ourselves entitled to abandon all speculations on the first cause of this discovery in favour of an exclusive attention to such facts as mark an advance from the dim foreshadowing of its future capabilities to the intelligent and persevering practice of the perfected processes of the art4 ,we shall be content to inquire towards what epoch this new method1 the heir of popular favour1 supplemented the old resources of the graphic arts by the multiplication of engravings in the printing press4 ,and we may therefore spare ourselves the trouble of going back to doubtful or remote information1 to archological speculations1 more or less excused by certain passages in ,cicero1 ,quintilian1 and ,petronius1 or by a frequently quoted phrase of ,pliny on the books1 ornamented with figures1 that belonged to ,marcus ,varro4#c ,moreover in examining the historical question from a comparatively modern epoch only1 we are not certain to find for ourselves1 still less to provide for others1 perfectly satisfactory answers4 ,reduced even to these terms1 such a question is complicated enough to excuse controversy1 and vast enough to make room for a legendary as well as a critical view of the case4 ,xylography1 or block printing1 which may be called the art of stamping on paper designs and immovable letters cut out on wood1 preceded without doubt the invention of printing in movable metal characters4 ,some specimens authentically dated1 such as the ,st4 ,christopher of #adbc1 and certain prints published in the course of the following years1 prove with undeniable authority the priority of block printing4 ,it remains to be seen if these specimens are absolutely the first engraved in ,europe2 whether they illustrate the beginning of the art1 or only a step in its progress2 whether1 in one word1 they are types without precedent1 or only chance survivals of other and more ancient styles of wood engraving4 ,papillon1 in support of the opinion that the earliest attempts took place at ,ravenna before the end of the thirteenth century1 brings into court a somewhat doubtful story4 ,two children of sixteen1 the ,cavaliere ,alberico ,cunio and his twin sister ,isabella1 took it into their heads in #abhd to carve on wood with a little knife1 and to print by some process seemingly as simple a series of compositions on the chivalrous deeds of ,alexander the ,great4 ,the relations and friends of the two young engravers1 ,pope ,honorius ,,iv4 amongst others1 each received a copy of their work4 ,after this no more was heard of the discovery till the day when ,papillon miraculously came across evidences of it in the library of a ,swiss officer in retirement at ,bagneux4 ,papillon unfortunately was satisfied with merely recording his discovery4 ,it never occurred to him to ensure more conclusive publicity1 nor even to inquire into the ultimate fate of the prints he only had seen4 ,the collection of ,the ,chivalrous ,deeds of ,alexander the ,great again vanished1 and this time not to reappear4 ,it is more prudent1 in default of any means of verification1 to withhold our belief in the precocious ability of the ,ravenna twins1 their xylographic attempts1 and the assertions of their admirers1 although competent judges1 such as the ,abb ,zani1#d and after him ,emeric ,david1 have not hesitated to admit the authenticity of the whole story4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4--,,the ,,st4 ,,christopher ,,of #adbc4 ,the learned ,zani had1 in truth1 his own reasons for taking ,papillon at his word4 ,had the story tended to establish the pre-existence of engraving in ,germany1 he would probably have investigated the matter more closely1 and with a less ready faith4 ,but the glory of ,italy was directly at issue1 and ,zani1 honest though he was1 did not feel inclined to receive with coldness1 still less to reject1 testimony which1 for lack of better1 might console his national self-respect1 and somewhat help to avenge what the ,italians called ,german vanity4 ,pride would have been a better word1 for the pretensions of ,germany with regard to wood engraving are based on more serious titles and far more explicit documents than the one discovered by ,papillon1 and recklessly passed on by ,zani4 ,heinecken and the other ,german writers on the subject doubtless criticise in a slightly disdainful manner1 and with some excess of patriotic feeling4 ,for all that1 they defend their opinions by documents1 and not by mere traditions2 and if all their examples are not quite evidently ,german1 those which are not should in justice be attributed to ,flanders1 or to ,holland1 and by no means to ,italy4 ,in this struggle of rival national claims the schools of the ,low ,countries are entitled to their share of glory4 ,it is quite possible that their claims1 so generally ignored towards the end of the last century1 should in the present day be accounted the most valid of all2 and that1 in this obscure question of priority1 the presumption may be in favour of the country which supplied an art closely connected with engraving with its first elements and its first examples4 ,it would be unbecoming in every way to pretend to enter here on a detailed history of the origin of printing4 ,the number of exhaustive works on the subject1 the explanations of ,m4 ,lon de ,laborde1 ,m4 ,auguste ,bernard1 and more recently of ,m4 ,paeile1 would render it a mere lesson in repetition or a too easy parade of borrowed learning4 ,anyhow1 the discovery of printing with type is so intimately connected with the printing of engravings1 and the practical methods in both are so much alike1 that it is necessary to mention a few facts1 and to compare a few dates4 ,we shall therefore1 under correction1 reduce to the limits of a sketch the complete picture drawn by other hands4 ,if printing be strictly understood to mean typography1 or the art of transferring written matter to paper by means of movable and raised metal types1 there can be no doubt that its discovery must date from the day on which there was invented at ,mayence the process of casting characters in a mould previously stamped in the bottom by a steel die bearing the type to be reproduced4 ,gutenberg1 with whom the idea of this decisive improvement originated1 is in this sense the earliest printer4 ,his ,letters of ,indulgence of #aded and his ,bible are the oldest examples of the art with which he is for ever associated4 ,in a general sense1 however1 and in a wider meaning of the word1 it may be said that printing was known before ,gutenberg's time1 or at least before he published his typographical masterpieces4 ,people previously knew both how to print broadsides from characters cut on a single block1 and how to vary the arrangement of the text by using1 in place of an immovable row of letters1 characters existing as separate types1 and capable of various combinations4 ,on this point we must trust to the testimony of one of ,gutenberg's workmen1 ,ulrich ,zell1 the first printer established in ,cologne4 ,far from attributing to his master the absolute invention of movable type1 he merely contrasts with the process known and practised in the ,low ,countries before the second half of the fifteenth century the far more delicate process of cast type that was discovered later4 ,and ,ulrich ,zell adds1 the first step towards this invention was taken in #addj in the printing of the copies of ,donatus1#e which were printed before this time in ,holland 7ab illis atque ex illis74 ,now if these copies of ,donatus were not printed by means of movable type1 why should they be mentioned rather than the many other works equally fitted to give a hint to ,gutenberg8 ,why1 in going back to the origin of the discovery1 should his pupil say nothing of those illustrated legends which were xylographically cut and sold in all the ,rhenish towns1 and which the future inventor of printing must have seen hundreds of times8 ,for the attention of ,gutenberg to have been thus concentrated on a single object1 there must have been some peculiar merit and some stamp of real progress in the mode of execution to distinguish the copies of ,donatus printed at ,haarlem from other contemporary work4 ,laurence ,coster--the name attributed to the inventor of the process which ,gutenberg improved--must have already made use of a method more closely allied than any other to the improvements about to follow1 and destined to put a term to mere experiments4 ,to suppose the contrary is to misunderstand the words of ,ulrich ,zell and the influence which he attributes to the ,dutch edition of ,donatus1 from which ,gutenberg derived the first idea of his invention4 ,it is still more difficult to understand how1 if the ,donatuses are block-printed1 reversed letters are sometimes found in the fragmentary specimens which survive4 ,there is nothing the least extraordinary in such a mistake when it can be explained by the carelessness of a compositor of movable type1 but such a mistake would really be incredible on the part of a xylographic workman4 ,what possible caprice could have tempted him to engrave occasional letters upside down8 ,one could only suppose he erred1 not from inadvertence1 but with voluntary infidelity and in calculated defiance of common sense4 ,the discovery which has immortalised the name of ,gutenberg should be recognised and admired as the conclusion and crown of a series of earlier attempts in printed type4 ,taking into account the inadequacy of the movable type1 whether of wood or of any other substance1 first employed by the ,dutch1 and the perfection of the earliest specimens of ,german printing1 it can and should be admitted that1 before the publication of the ,letters of ,indulgence1 the ,bible1 and other productions from the workshop of ,gutenberg and his fellow-labourers1 attempts at genuine typography had been already pursued1 and to a certain extent rewarded with success4 ,from the very confession of ,ulrich ,zell1 a confession repeated by the anonymous author of the ,chronicle of ,cologne printed in #adii1f the first rude essay in the art 7prefiguratio7 was seen in the town of ,haarlem4 ,we may1 in short1 conclude that the idea of combining designs cut on wood with a separate letterpress in movable types1 belongs in all probability to ,holland4 ,one of the oldest collections of engravings with subject matter printed by this process is the ,speculum ,human ,salvationis1 mentioned by ,adrian ,junius in his ,batavia--written1 it would seem1 between the years #aefj and #aegj1 but not published till #aehh1 many years after his death4 ,therein it is expressly stated that the ,speculum was printed before #addb by ,lourens ,janszoon ,coster4 ,it is true that ,junius is speaking of events which occurred more than a century before the time to which he ascribes them3 on the testimony1 as he says1 of very aged men1 who had received this tradition1 as a burning torch passed from hand to hand4 ,and this belated narrative has appeared1 and may still appear1 somewhat doubtful4 ,we ourselves consider the doubt to be exaggerated1 but we shall not insist on that4 ,the specimens survive which gave rise to such legends and commentaries2 and it is fitting they should be questioned4 ,four editions of the ,speculum are known1 two in ,dutch and two in ,latin4 ,it must be understood that we only speak of the editions which have no publishers' names1 no dates1 nor any sign of the place where they were published3 the ,speculum1 a sort of ,christian handbook1 much used in the ,low ,countries1 having been frequently reprinted1 with due indication of names and places1 during and after the last twenty years of the fifteenth century4 ,the oldest ,dutch edition that is dated1 the one of #adhc1 printed by ,john ,veldenaer1 reproduces certain engravings which had already embellished the four anonymous editions1 with the difference that the plates have been sawn in two to suit the dimensions of a smaller volume4 ,hence1 whatever conjectures may exist as to the date of the first publication1 we have1 at least1 a positive fact3 as the original plates only appear in a mutilated state in the copies printed in #adhc1 it is evident that the four editions where they appear entire are of earlier date4 ,these questions remain3--first1 whether they are earlier1 too1 than the second half of the fifteenth century--earlier1 that is1 than the time when ,gutenberg gave to the world the results of his labour8 and second1 whether they originated1 like the edition of ,donatus1 in a ,dutch workshop8 ,doubt seems impossible on the last point4 ,these four editions are all printed with the same cuts1 on the same paper made in ,brabant1 and under the same typographical conditions1 with the exception of some slight differences in the characters of the two ,dutch editions1 and the insertion of twenty leaves xylographically printed in one of the two ,latin editions4 ,is it1 then1 likely1 or even possible1 that these books belong1 as has been supposed1 to ,germany8 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4--,,the ,,holy ,,virgin ,,and ,,the ,,infant ,,jesus4 ,german ,wood ,engraving4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,the thing might1 indeed1 be possible1 were it merely a question of the copies in ,latin2 but the ,dutch ones cannot be supposed to have been published anywhere but in ,holland2 and the origin of the latter once established1 how are we to explain the typographical imperfection of the work if not by ignorance of the process which ,gutenberg was to popularise8 ,according to ,m4 ,paeile1 a competent judge in such a matter1#g the letterpress of the ,dutch ,speculum is written in the pure dialect of ,north ,holland1 as it was spoken in those parts towards the end of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth4 ,armed1 therefore1 with but a few particulars as to printing and idiom1 it will not be too bold in us to fix the date of publication between the first and second quarters of the fifteenth century4 ,it may be added that the costume of the figures is of the time of ,philip the ,good2 that the taste and style of the drawing suggests the influence of the brothers ,van ,eyck2 and that there is a decided contrast between the typographical imperfection of the text and the excellent quality of the plates4 ,art1 and art already well on its way and confident of its powers1 is thus seen side by side with an industrial process still in its infancy3 a remarkable proof of the advances already accomplished in wood engraving before printing had got beyond the rudimentary period4 ,for our present purpose1 this is the chief point1 the essential fact to verify4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4--,,st4 ,,veronica4 ,german ,wood ,engraving4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d4--,,st4 ,,john4 ,flemish ,wood ,engraving4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,the discovery of printing1 therefore1 is doubtless a result of the example of relief engraving1 and there is no doubt either that the first attempts at printing with type originated in ,holland4 ,whilst ,coster1 or the predecessor of ,gutenberg1 whoever he was1 was somewhat feebly preparing the way for typographical industry1 painting and the arts of design generally had in the ,low ,countries attained a degree of development which they had not before reached1 except in ,italy4 ,amongst the ,german contemporaries of ,hubert and ,john van ,eyck1 what rival was there to compare with these two masters8--what teacher with so notable an influence1 or so fertile a teaching8 ,whilst1 on the banks of the ,rhine1 artists unworthy of the name and painters destitute of talent were continuing the ,gothic traditions and the formul of their predecessors1 the school of ,bruges was renewing1 or rather founding1 a national art4 ,by the beginning of the fifteenth century the revolution was accomplished in this school1 which was already distinguished by the ,van ,eycks1 and to which ,memling was about to add fresh lustre4 ,germany1 too1 in a few years was to glory in a like success2 but the movement did not set in till after the second half of the century4 ,till then everything remained dead1 everything betrayed an extreme poverty of method and doctrine4 ,if we judge the ,german art of the time by such work1 for instance1 as the ,st4 ,christopher1 engraved in #adbc1 a single glance is sufficient to reveal the marked superiority of the contemporary ,flemings4 ,it is1 then1 far from unnatural that1 at a time when painters1 goldsmiths1 and all other artists in ,flanders were so plainly superior in skill to their co-workers in ,germany1 the ,flemish engravers should likewise have led the van of progress1 and taken their places as the first in the history of their art4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #e4--,,the ,,infant ,,jesus4 ,flemish ,wood ,engraving4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #f4--;,,jesus1 ,,saviour ,,of ,,the ,,world4 ,german ,wood ,engraving4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #g4--,,the ,,crucifixion4 ,german ,wood ,engraving4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,it may be said that the proofs are insufficient4 ,be it so4 ,we shall not look for them in the ,virgin on wood1 belonging to the ,brussels ,library1 and bearing the date #adah1 as the authenticity of this date1 to our thinking perfectly genuine1 has been disputed2 nor shall we seek for them in the anonymous examples which it seems to us but just to ascribe to the old school of the ,low ,countries4#h ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #h4--,,the ,,apocalypse ,,of ,,st4 ,,john4 ,dutch ,wood ,engraving4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,up to now we are willing to admit that only ,germany is in a position to produce a piece of evidence beyond suspicion4 ,with its imposing date of #adbc1 its time-honoured rights1 and official renown1 the ,st4 ,christopher1 now in the library of ,lord ,spencer1 has privileges which cannot be disputed or questioned4 ,but it does not follow that the wood-cuts of the ,speculum1 of the ,biblia ,pauperum1 of the ,ars ,moriendi1 and of similar undated publications1 must be more recent4 ,nor1 because a dated ,german print has survived1 must it therefore be concluded that nothing was produced at that time except in ,germany4 ,it should be particularly observed that the plates of the ,speculum seem well-nigh prodigies of pictorial skill and knowledge in comparison with the ,st4 ,christopher2 that their author must have served a long apprenticeship in a good school2 that1 in short1 no art begins with such a piece of work1 and that1 even supposing these cuts did not appear till after the ,german print1 some time had doubtless elapsed during which the progress they involve had been prepared and pursued4 ,it is therefore reasonable to suppose that1 from the first years of the fifteenth century1 the engravers of the ,low ,countries began1 under the influence of the ,van ,eycks1 to be initiated into the conditions of art1 and that1 like their countrymen the printers1 they showed the path which others were to clear and level4 ,it must be remarked1 however1 that in the beginning printing and wood engraving do not always march on parallel lines--that they do not meet in like order their successive periods of trial and advance4 ,in ,germany1 up till the time when ,gutenberg attained the final stage1 and popularised the last secrets of the printing process1 painters1 draughtsmen1 and engravers were all helpless in a rut3 from the author of the ,st4 ,christopher to the engravers of thirty years later1 they boast but the roughest and coarsest of ideas and methods4 ,heinecken1 the exaggerated champion of the ,german cause as against the partisans of ,coster1 whom he contemptuously calls the beadle#i--;,heinecken himself1 speaking of the first ,german books engraved on wooden tablets1 is obliged to admit that when the drawing is examined with a connoisseur's eye1 a heavy and barbarous taste appears to reign throughout4#aj ,in ,germany the artistic part was to wait upon and follow the example of the industrial3 was to lag behind and to plod on in barbarism long after the industrial revolution was accomplished at its side4 ,and it was long before the wood-cutting engravers acquired anything like the skill of the printers employed by ,gutenberg and by ,fst4 ,in the ,low ,countries1 on the other hand1 the regeneration of art preceded mechanical improvement4 ,even when the latter was in full progress1 nay1 even when a grand discovery had revealed all the capabilities and fixed the limits of printing1 engraving was by no means subordinated1 as in ,germany1 to the advance of the new process1 but1 on the contrary1 had long since acquired a clearness and certainty of execution which was still lacking in the works of the printers4 ,the ,speculum1 as we have said1 bears testimony to that sort of anomaly between the mechanical imperfection of the ,dutch printed texts of the fifteenth century and the merit of the plates by which they were accompanied4 ,other examples might be mentioned1 but it is useless to multiply evidence1 and to insist on details4 ,we shall have accomplished enough if we have succeeded in accentuating some of the principal features1 and in summing up the essential characteristics of engraving1 at the time of the ,incunabuli4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,playing ,,cards4 ,,the ,,dot ,,manner4 ,in our endeavour to prove the relative antiquity of wood engraving in the ,low ,countries1 we have intentionally rather deferred the purely archological question1 and have sought the first signs of talent instead of the bold beginnings of the art4 ,the origin of wood engraving1 materially considered1 cannot be said to be confined to the time and country of the pupils of ,van ,eyck4 ,it was certainly in their hands that it first began to show signs of being a real art1 and give promise for the future2 but we have still to inquire how many years it had been practised in ,europe1 through what phases it had already passed1 and to what uses it had been applied1 before it took this start and received this consecration4 ,we treat this question of origin with some reserve1 and must repeat as our excuse that savants have pushed their researches so far1 and unhappily with such conflicting results1 and have found1 or have thought they found1 in the accounts of travellers1 or in ancient official or historical documents1 so many proofs and arguments in support of different systems1 that it becomes equally difficult to accept or to finally reject their various conclusions4 ,the prevailing opinion1 however1 attributes to the makers of playing cards1 if not the discovery of wood engraving1 at least its first practical application in ,europe4 ,many writers agree on the general principle1 but agreement ends when it comes to be question of the date and place of the earliest attempts4 ,some pronounce in favour of the fourteenth century and ,germany2 others plead for ,france1 where they say cards were in use from the beginning of the reign of ,philip of ,valois4 ,others again1 to support the claims of ,italy1 arm themselves with a passage quoted by ,tiraboschi from the ,trattato del ,governo della ,famiglia1 a work written1 according to them1 in #abii2 and they suppose1 besides1 that the commercial relations of ,japan and ,china with ,venice would have introduced into that town before any other the use of cards and the art of making them4 ,emeric ,david1 one of the most recent authorities1 carries things with a still higher hand4 ,he begins by setting aside all the claimants--,germany with the ,low ,countries1 ,france as well as ,italy4#aa ,where playing cards were first used1 or whether any particular xylographic collection belongs or not to the first years of the fifteenth century1 are matters of extremely small importance in his eyes4 ,in the documents brought forward by competent experts as the most ancient remains of wood engraving1 he finds instead a testimony to the uninterrupted practice of the art in ,europe4 ,for the real origin the author of the ,discours sur la ,gravure does not hesitate to go boldly back beyond the ,christian era4 ,nor does he stop there2 but sees in the practice of the ,greeks under the successors of ,alexander a mere continuance of the traditions of those ,asiatic peoples who were accustomed from time immemorial to print on textile fabrics by means of wooden moulds4 ,it would be too troublesome to discuss his facts or his conclusions2 so many examples borrowed from the poets1 from the historians of antiquity1 and the ,fathers of the ,church1 appear to sustain his perhaps too comprehensive theory4 ,the best and the shortest plan will be to take it upon trust1 and to admit on the authority of ,homer1 ,herodotus1 ,ezekiel1 and ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria1 that from the heroic ages till the early days of ,christianity1 there has been no break in the practice of printing upon various materials from wooden blocks4 ,still less need we grudge the ,middle ,ages the possession of a secret already the common property of so many centuries4 ,but the printing of textiles does not imply the knowledge and practice of engraving properly so called2 and many centuries may have passed without any attempt to use this merely industrial process for finer ends1 or to apply it to the purposes of art4 ,seals with letters cut in relief were smeared with colour and impressed on vellum or paper long before the invention of printing4 ,the small stamps or patterns with which the scribes and illuminators transferred the outlines of capital letters to their manuscripts1 might well have suggested the last advance4 ,and yet how many years and experiments were required to bring it to perfection6 ,why may we not suppose that the art of engraving1 like the art of printing1 in spite of early1 partial1 and analogous discoveries1 may have waited long for its hour of birth8 ,and when block printing was once brought from ,asia into ,europe1 why may it not have suffered the same fate as other inventions equally ingenious in principle and equally limited in their earlier applications8 ,glass1 for instance1 was well known by the nations of antiquity2 but how long a time elapsed before it was applied to windows8 ,we have said that according to a generally received opinion we must look upon playing cards as the oldest remains of xylography4 ,but the evidence on which this opinion is based has only a negative authority4 ,because the old books in which cards are mentioned say nothing of any other productions of wood engraving1 it has been inferred that such productions did not yet exist2 but is it not allowable to ask if the silence of writers in such a case absolutely establishes such a negative8 ,might not this silence be explained by the nature of the work1 and of the subject treated1 which was generally literary or philosophical1 and quite independent of questions of art8 ,when speaking of cards1 whether to formally forbid or only to restrain their use1 the chroniclers and the moralists of the fourteenth century1 or of the beginning of the fifteenth1 probably thought but little of the way they were made4 ,their intention was to denounce a vice rather than to describe an industrial process4 ,why1 then1 should they have troubled about other works in which this process was employed1 not only without danger to religion and morality1 but with a view of honouring both8 ,pious pictures cut in wood by the hands of monks or artisans might have been well known at this time1 although contemporary authors may have chosen to mention only cards2 and1 without pushing conjecture too far1 we may take the liberty of supposing that engravers first drew their inspiration from the same source as illuminators1 painters on glass1 and sculptors4 ,besides1 we know well that art was then only the nave expression of religion and the emblem of ,christian thought4 ,why should the cutters of xylographic figures have been an exception to the general rule8 and what strange freak would have led them to choose as the subject of their first efforts a species of work so contrary to the manners and traditions of all the schools8 ,setting aside written testimony1 and consulting the engravings themselves which have been handed down to us from former centuries1 we are entitled to say that the very oldest playing cards are1 at the most1 contemporaneous with the ,st4 ,christopher of #adbc and the oldest known wood-cuts1 inasmuch as the engraving of these cards certainly does not date back beyond the reign of ,charles ,,vii4 ,that the ,italian1 ,german1 or ,french tarocchi 7ornamented chequers or cards7 were in use before that time is possible2 but as none of these early tarocchi have survived1 it cannot be known to what extent they represent the progress of the art1 and how far they may have served as models for other xylographic works3 even though it be true that relief engraving1 and not merely drawing with the pen1 was the means first employed for the making of the tarocchi mentioned here and there in the chronicles4 ,such ,french cards as have come down to us would lead us to believe1 in any case1 that the progress was slow enough1 for they still reveal an extraordinary want of experience both as to shape and effect1 and have all the timidity of an art still in its infancy4 ,this must also be said of works of the same kind executed in ,germany in the fifteenth century2 except the cards1 attributed to a contemporary of the ,master of #adff1 and these are engraved on metal4 ,in ,italy alone1 cards1 or rather the symbolical pieces known rightly or wrongly by the name of tarocchi1 possessed1 from an artistic point of view1 real importance from the time when engraving on metal had begun to take the place of wood-cutting4 ,the artists initiated by ,finiguerra into the secrets of the new method displayed good taste1 knowledge1 and skill2 and in such less important work1 as well as in that of a higher order1 their talent at last inaugurated an era of real progress and of fruitful enterprise4 ,it is of no consequence1 for the matter of that1 whether wood engraving was first applied to the making of pious pictures or to the manufacture of cards4 ,in any case the process is generally looked upon as the oldest method of engraving1 and as the first to give types to be multiplied in proofs by printing4 ,m4 ,lon de ,laborde1 one of the clearest and best informed writers on the origins of engraving and typography1 considers1 on the other hand1 that engraving in relief on metal1 rather than the xylographic process1 was the proximate cause of the discovery of printing4 ,in a work published in #ahci1 which unfortunately has yet to receive the amplifications promised by the author1#ab ,m4 de ,laborde declares that the first printed engravings must have been dotted ones3 that is1 prints produced in the peculiar mode already touched upon1 and in which the black parts come out sprinkled with white dots4 ,according to him1 engraving1 or1 to speak more exactly1 the printing of engraved work1 must have been invented by goldsmiths rather than by draughtsmen or illuminators4 ,the former1 by the nature of their craft1 possessed the tools and the necessary materials1 and were therefore in a better position than any one else to stumble upon the discovery of the process1 if not deliberately to invent it4 ,as matter of fact1 many of those who worked in the ,low ,countries1 or in the ,rhenish provinces1 during the first years of the fifteenth century1 printed works in the early dot manner3 in other words1 engraved in relief on metal4 ,and those xylographic specimens which are usually looked upon as the oldest examples of engraving1 are in reality only the outcome of a reformation1 and the product of an art already modified4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #i4--;,,jesus ,,christ ,,carrying ,,the ,,cross4 ,engraving in the ,dot ,manner 7#adjf74 ,the opinion expressed some time ago by ,m4 ,lon de ,laborde has recently been supported by the discovery of two engravings1 in the early dot manner1 belonging1 we think1 to the year #adjf1 and on which we have ourselves published some remarks4#ac ,but our argument being only founded on the similarity of certain external facts1 so to speak1 and on the probability of certain calculations1 it is not really possible to attribute to these documents so secure a standing as to those whose age is established by dates1 and set practically beyond question4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aj4--,,the ,,holy ,,face4 ,engraving in the ,dot ,manner 7#adjf74 ,now1 the oldest of the dated engravings in relief on metal is the ,st4 ,bernardino of ,siena1 wrongly called the ,st4 ,bernard1 belonging to the ,bibliothque ,nationale in ,paris4 ,this engraving in the dot manner bears the date #aded4 ,it is1 therefore1 later than the ,st4 ,christopher engraved on wood1 and later even1 as we shall presently see1 than the first engraving in incised line1 the ,pax1 by ,finiguerra1 whose date of printing is certain4 ,remembering these facts1 the separation of the oldest dotted prints from the first specimens of true engraving is only permissible on the ground that they are works executed by a special process4 ,considered from a purely artistic point of view1 they offer little interest4 ,their drawing1 still ruder than that of the ,german wood-cuts1 exhibits an almost hieroglyphic unreality4 ,their general effect is purely conventional2 and1 owing to the uniform depth of the blacks1 their insignificant modelling expresses neither the relief nor the comparative depression of the forms4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aa4--,,st4 ,,bernardino4 ,engraving in the ,dot ,manner 7#aded74 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ab4--,,st4 ,,christopher4 ,engraving in the ,dot ,manner4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,in short1 we find in these early dotted prints nothing but perfect falseness to nature1 and all the mendacity inherent in feebleness of taste and slavish conformity to system4 ,how comes it that this sorry child's-play has appeared to deserve in our day attention which is not always conceded to more serious work8 ,this might be better excused had these prints been investigated in order to demonstrate the principles of the method followed afterwards by the engravers of illustrations for books4 ,the charming borders1 for instance1 which adorn the ,books of ,hours1 printed in ,france at the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries1 would naturally suggest comparisons between the way in which many parts are stippled1 and the process of the early dotted engraving4 ,but we may surely term excessive the efforts of certain scholars to fix on these defective attempts in a particular method of work the attention of a public naturally attracted elsewhere4 ,the fact is1 however1 that in this matter1 as well as in questions relating to the origin of wood engraving and printing1 national self-respect was at stake1 and writers sought in the narrow field of archology a victory over rival claims which they might less easily have achieved on other grounds4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ac4--;,,jesus ,,on ,,the ,,mount ,,of ,,olives4 ,engraving in the ,dot ,manner4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,between the authors of the ,low ,countries and of ,germany1 long accustomed to skirmishes of the kind1 this new conflict might have begun and continued without awaking much interest in other nations2 but1 contrary to custom1 these counterclaims originated neither in ,germany nor in the ,low ,countries4 ,for the first time the name of ,france was heard of in a dispute as to the origin of engraving2 and though there was but scant honour to be gained1 the unforeseen rivalry did not fail to give additional interest to the struggle1 and1 in ,france at least1 to meet with a measure of favour4 ,the words ,bernhardinus ,milnet1 deciphered1 or supposed to be deciphered1 at the bottom of an old dotted engraving1 representing ,the ,virgin and the ,infant ,jesus1 were taken for the signature of a ,french engraver1 and the discovery was turned to further profit by the assumption that the said ,bernard or ,bernardin ,milnet engraved all the prints of this particular class2 although1 even supposing these to belong to a single school1 they manifestly could not all belong to a single epoch4 ,the invention and monopoly of dotted engraving once attributed to a single country1 or rather to a single man1 these assertions continued to gain ground for some time1 and were even repeated in literary and historical works4 ,a day1 however1 came when they began to lose credit2 and as doubts entered even the minds of his countrymen1 the supposed ,bernard ,milnet is now deprived of his name and title1 and is very properly regarded as an imaginary being4 ,does it follow from this1 as ,m4 ,passavant#ad would have it1 that all these prints1 naturalised for a little while in ,france1 ought to be restored to ,germany8 ,their contradictory character with regard to workmanship and style might cause one1 with the most honest intentions1 to hesitate1 though their intrinsic value is not such as to cause the former country any great loss4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ad4--,,st4 ,,george4 ,engraving in the ,dot ,manner4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ae4--,,st4 ,,dominic4 ,engraving in the ,dot ,manner4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,indeed1 it is difficult to conceive of anything less interesting1 except with regard to the particular nature of the process4 ,the outlines of the figures have none of that drawing1 firm even to stiffness1 nor has the flow of the draperies that taste for abrupt forms1 which distinguished the productions of the ,german school from its beginnings4 ,the least feeble of these specimens1 such as the ,saint ,barbara1 in the ,brussels ,library1 or the ,st4 ,george on ,horseback1 preserved in the ,print ,department of the ,bibliothque ,nationale in ,paris1 do indeed occasionally suggest some similarity of origin or manner with the school of ,van ,eyck4 ,but it is unnecessary to debate the point at greater length4 ,whether produced in ,france1 in the ,low ,countries1 or in ,germany1 the dotted engravings of the fifteenth century add so little lustre to the land which gave them birth1 that no scepticism as to their origin need lie very heavily on the conscience4 ,in the general history of the documents on the origin of engraving1 the dotted prints form a series distinguished by the method of their execution from any other earlier or contemporary specimens of work2 the date mark #aded1 borne by one among the number1 gives us authentic information as to the time of these strange experiments1 these curiosities of handicraft rather than of art4 ,this is as much as we need to bear in mind upon the subject1 and quite enough to complete the history of the elementary attempts which preceded or which co-existed for a few years with the beginning of engraving by incised line in ,italy4 ,we have now arrived at that decisive moment when engraving1 endowed with fresh resources1 was practised for the first time by real masters4 ,up to the present1 the trifling ability and skill possessed by certain wood-cutters and the peculiar methods of dotted engraving have been the only means by which we could measure the efforts expended in the search for new technical methods1 or in their use when discovered4 ,we have now done with such hesitating and halting progress4 ,the art of printing from plates cut in intaglio had no sooner been discovered by1 or at least dignified by the practice of1 a ,florentine goldsmith1 than upon every side fresh talent was evoked4 ,in ,italy and ,germany it was a question of who should profit most and quickest by the advance4 ,a spirit of rivalry at once arose between the two schools2 and fifteen years had not elapsed since ,italian art had given its note in the works of the goldsmith engravers of the school of ,finiguerra1 before ,german art had found an equally definite expression in the works of the ,master of #adff4 ,but1 before examining this simultaneous progress1 we shall have to say a few words on the historical part of the question1 and to return to the origin of the process of intaglio engraving1 as we have already done with the origin of engraving in relief4 ,this part of our subject must be briefly and finally disposed of2 we may then altogether abandon the uncertain ground of archological hypothesis4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,first ,,attempts ,,at ,,intaglio ,,engraving4 ,,the ,,nielli ,,of ,,the ,,florentine ,,goldsmiths4 ,,prints ,,by ,,the ,,italian ,,and ,,german ,,painter-,,engravers ,,of ,,the ,,fifteenth ,,century ,we have seen that ,gutenberg's permanent improvements in the method of printing resulted in the substitution1 so far as written speech was concerned1 of a mode of reproduction almost infinitely fruitful1 and even rapid when compared to the slowness and the limited resources of the xylographic method4 ,typography was destined to abolish the use of block printing1 and more particularly of caligraphy1 which1 till then1 had occupied so many pious and patient hands both in monasteries and in schools4 ,the art of printing from engravings worked similar mischief to the illuminator's craft4 ,such were1 before long1 the natural consequences of the progress made2 and1 we may add1 such had been from the first the chief object of these innovations4 ,perhaps this double revolution1 so potent in its general effect and in its influence on modern civilisation1 may have appeared to those engaged in it no more important than a purely industrial improvement4 ,surely1 for instance1 we do no injustice to ,gutenberg if we accept with some reserve the vast political and philosophical ideas1 and the purposes of universal enfranchisement1 with which he has been sometimes credited8 ,probably the views of the inventor of printing reached neither so far nor so high4 ,he did not intend to figure as an apostle1 nor did he regard himself as devoted to a philanthropic mission1 as we should put it in the present day4 ,he considered himself no more than a workman with a happy thought1 when he proposed to replace the lengthy and costly labours of the copyist by a process so much cheaper and so much more expeditious4 ,a somewhat similar idea had already occurred to the xylographic printers4 ,even the title of one of the first books published by them1 the ,biblia ,pauperum1 or ,bible for the ,poor1 proved their wish to place within the reach of the masses an equivalent to those illuminated manuscript copies which were only obtainable by the rich4 ,one glance at the ancient xylographic collections is enough to disclose the spirit in which such work was undertaken1 and the design with which it was conceived4 ,the new industry imitated in every particular the appearance of those earlier works due to the pen of the scribe or to the brush of the illuminator2 and1 perhaps1 the printers themselves1 speculating on the want of discernment in the purchasing public1 thought less of exposing the secret of their method than of maintaining an illusion4 ,in most of the xylographic books1 indeed1 the first page is quite without ornamentation4 ,there are neither chapter-headings nor ornamental capitals2 the blank space seems to await the hand of the illuminator1 who should step in to finish the work of the printer1 and complete the resemblance between the printed books and the manuscript4 ,gutenberg followed2 and even he1 although less closely an imitator of caligraphy1 did not himself disdain at first to practise some deception as to the nature of his method4 ,it is said that the ,bible he printed at ,mayence was sold as manuscript2 and the letterpress is certainly not accompanied by any technical explanation1 or by any note of the printer's name or the mode of fabrication4 ,not till somewhat later1 when he published the ,catholicon1 did ,gutenberg avow that he had printed this book without the help of reed1 quill1 or stylus1 but by means of a marvellous array of moulds and punches4 ,even in this specimen of a process already settled and finally disclosed to the public1 the capital letters were left blank in the printing1 and were afterwards filled in with brush or pen4 ,it was a farewell salutation to the past1 and the latest appearance of that old art which was now doomed to pass away before the new1 and to leave the field to the products of the press4 ,did the inventor of the art of printing from plates cut in intaglio1 like the inventor of the art of typography1 only wish at first to extend to a larger public what had hitherto been reserved for the favoured few8 ,was early engraving but a weapon turned against the monopoly of the miniature painter8 ,we might be tempted to think so1 from the number of manuscripts belonging to the second half of the fifteenth century1 in which coloured prints1 surrounded by borders also coloured1 are set opposite a printed text1 apparently in order to imitate as nearly as possible the familiar aspect of illuminated books4 ,next in turn came printed books with illustrations1 and loose sheets published separately for every-day use4 ,the ,italian engravers1 even before they began to adorn with the burin those works which have been the most frequently illustrated--such1 for instance1 as the religious handbooks and the poem of ,dante--employed the new process from as early as #adfe1 to assure their calendars a wider publicity4 ,but let us return to the time when engraving was yet in its early stages1 and when--by chance1 by force of original genius1 or by the mere completion of what had been begun by other hands--a ,florentine goldsmith1 one ,maso ,finiguerra1 succeeded in fixing on paper the impression of a silver plate on which lines had been engraved in intaglio and filled with black4 ,finiguerra's great glory does not1 however1 lie in the solution of the practical difficulty4 ,amongst the ,italians none before him had ever thought of trying to print from a work engraved in incised line or intaglio on metal2 and therefore1 at least1 in his own country1 he deserved the honours of priority4 ,but the invention of the process--that is1 in the absolute and literal sense of its name1 the notion of reproducing burin work by printing--was certainly not peculiar to ,finiguerra4 ,unconscious of what was passing elsewhere1 he may have been the first in ,florence to attempt this revolution in art2 but1 beyond the frontiers of ,italy1 many had already employed for the necessities of trade that method which it was his to turn into a powerful instrument of art4 ,his true glory consists in the unexpected authority with which he inaugurated the movement4 ,although it may be true that there are prints a few years older than any ,florentine niello--the ,german specimens of #addf1 discovered but the other day by ,m4 ,renouvier1#ae or the ,virgin of #adea described by ,m4 ,passavant#af--;it cannot change the real date of the invention of engraving2 that date has been written by the hand of a man of talent1 the first engraver worthy of the name of artist4 ,that ,finiguerra was really the inventor of engraving1 because he dignified the new process by the striking ability with which he used it1 and proved his power where his contemporaries had only exhibited their weakness1 must be distinctly laid down1 even at the risk of scandalising some of the learned4 ,he has the same right to celebrity as ,gutenberg1 who1 like him1 was but the discoverer of a decisive advance2 the same right also as ,nicol ,pisano and ,giotto1 the real founders of the race of the ,great ,masters1 and1 truly speaking1 the first painter and the first sculptor who appeared in ,italy1 although neither sculpture nor painting were even novelties at the moment of their birth4 ,as a mere question of date1 the ,pax of ,florence may not be the earliest example of engraving2 be it so4 ,but in which of these earlier attempts1 now so much acclaimed as arguments against the accepted tradition1 can we glean even the faintest promise of the merits which distinguish that illustrious engraving8 ,he who wrought it is no usurper2 his fame is a legitimate conquest4 ,it is a singular coincidence that the discovery of printing and that of the art of taking proofs on paper from a plate engraved in intaglio1 or1 to speak more exactly1 that the final improvements of both these processes1 should have sprung up almost simultaneously1 one in ,italy and the other in ,germany4 ,there is only an interval of two years between the time when ,finiguerra printed his first engraving in #adeb1 and the time when ,gutenberg exhibited his first attempts at printing in #aded4 ,till then1 copies drawn1 painted1 or written by hand had been the only efficient means of reproduction4 ,none1 even amongst those most capable of original thought or action1 considered it beneath them to set forth the thought of others4 ,boccaccio and ,petrarch exchanged whole books of ,livy or of ,cicero which they had patiently transcribed1 and monkish or professional artists copied on the vellum of missals the paintings which covered the walls or adorned the altars of their churches4 ,such subjects as were engraved on wood were only designed to stimulate the devotion of the pious4 ,both by their inadequate execution1 and the special use for which they were intended1 they must rank as industrial products rather than as works of art4 ,besides illumination and wood engraving1 there was a process sometimes used to copy certain originals1 portraits or fancy subjects1 but more frequently employed by goldsmiths in the decoration of chalices1 reliquaries1 and altar canons4 ,this process was nothing but a special application and combination of the resources belonging to the long known arts of enamelling and chalcography1 which last simply means engraving on metal4 ,the incised lines made by the graver in a plate of silver1 or of silver and gold combined1 were filled with a mixture of lead1 silver1 and copper1 made more easily fusible by the addition of a certain quantity of borax and sulphur4 ,this blackish-coloured mixture 7nigellum1 whence niello1 niellare7 left the unengraved parts exposed1 and1 in cooling1 became encrusted in the furrows where it had been introduced4 ,after this1 the plate1 when carefully polished1 presented to the eye the contrast of a design in dull black enamel traced upon a field of shining metal4 ,towards the middle of the fifteenth century this kind of engraving was much practised in ,italy1 especially in ,florence1 where the best niellatori were to be found4 ,one of them1 ,tomaso1 or for short1 ,maso ,finiguerra1 was1 like many goldsmiths of his time1 at once an engraver1 a designer1 and a sculptor4 ,the drawings attributed to him1 his nielli1 and the bas-reliefs partly by him and partly by ,antonio ,pollajuolo1 would not1 perhaps1 have been enough to have preserved his memory3 it is his invention--in the degree we mentioned--of the art of printing intaglio engravings1 or rather of the art of engraving itself1 that has made him immortal4 ,what1 however1 can seem more simple than this discovery8 ,it is even difficult to understand why it was not made before1 when we remember not only that the printing of blocks engraved in relief had been practised since the beginning of the fifteenth century1 but that the niellatori themselves were in the habit of taking1 first in clay and then in sulphur1 an impression and a counter-impression of their work before applying the enamel4 ,what should seem more simple than to have taken a direct proof on a thin elastic body such as paper8 ,but it is always easy to criticise after the event1 and to point out the road of progress when the end has been attained4 ,who knows if to-day there is not lying at our very hand some discovery which yet we never think of grasping1 and if our present blindness will not be the cause of similar wonder to our successors8 ,at any rate1 ,finiguerra had found the solution of the problem by #adeb4 ,this was put beyond doubt on the day towards the close of the last century 7#agig71 when ,zani discovered1 in the ,print-,room of the ,paris ,library1 a niello by ,finiguerra printed on paper of indisputable date4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #af4--;,,finiguerra4 ,the ,pax of the ,baptistery of ,st4 ,john at ,florence4 ,this little print1 or rather proof1 taken before the plate was put in niello1 of a ,pax#ag engraved by the ,florentine goldsmith for the ,baptistery of ,st4 ,john1 represents the ,coronation of the ,virgin4 ,it measures only #acj millimetres by #hg4 ,as regards its size1 therefore1 the ,coronation is really only a vignette2 but it is a vignette handled with such knowledge and style1 and informed with so deep a feeling for beauty1 that it would bear with perfect impunity the ordeal of being enlarged a hundred times and transferred to a canvas or a wall4 ,its claims as an archological specimen1 and the value that four centuries have added to this small piece of perishable paper1 must assuredly neither be forgotten nor misunderstood by any one4 ,yet he would be ill-advised1 on the other hand1 who should regard this masterpiece of art as a mere historical curiosity4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ag4--;,,italian ,,niello4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ah4 ,,italian ,,niello4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,the rare merits which distinguish ,finiguerra's ,coronation are to be seen1 though much less conspicuously1 in a certain number of works attributed to the same origin4 ,other pieces engraved at the same time1 and printed under the same conditions by unknown ,florentine workmen1 prove that the example given in #adeb had at once created imitators4 ,it must be remarked1 however1 that amongst such works1 whether attributed to ,finiguerra or to other goldsmiths of the same time and country1 none belong to the class of engravings properly so called4 ,in other words they are only what we have agreed to call nielli3 that is1 proofs on paper of plates designed to be afterwards enamelled1 and not impressions of plates specially and finally intended to be used for printing4 ,it would almost appear that the master and his first followers failed to foresee all the results and benefits of this discovery2 that they looked upon it only as a surer test of work than clay or sulphur casts1 as a test process suitable to certain stages of the labours of the goldsmith4 ,in one word1 from the time when he made his first success till the end of his life1 ,finiguerra probably only used the new process to forward his work as a niellatore1 without its ever occurring to him to employ it for its own sake1 and in the spirit of a real engraver4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ai4--;,,italian ,,niello4 7,fifteenth ,century47 ,florentine engravings of the fifteenth century1 other than in niello1 or those at least whose origin and date are certain1 are not only later than ,finiguerra's working days1 but are even later than the year of his death 7#adgj74 ,in ,germany1 from the very beginning1 so to speak1 of the period of initiation1 the ,master of #adff and his disciples were multiplying impressions of their works1 and profiting by the full resources of the new process4 ,in ,florence1 on the contrary1 there passed about twenty years during which the art seems to have remained stationary and confined to the same narrow field of practice as at first4 ,you may visit the richest public or private collections without meeting 7with the exception of works in niello7 any authentic and official specimen of ,florentine engraving of the time of which we speak4#ah ,you may open books and catalogues1 and find no mention of any engraved subject that can be called a print earlier than those attributed to ,baccio ,baldini1 or to ,botticelli1 which only appeared in the last quarter of the century4 ,yet it is impossible to find any explanation of this sterility--of this extraordinary absence of a school of engravers1 in the exact acceptation of the word1 outside of the group of the niellatori4 ,illustration3 ,,fig #bj4--;,,baccio ,,baldini4 ,illustration from the ,divina ,commedia of #adha4 ,some years later1 however1 progress had led to emancipation4 ,the art of engraving1 henceforth free1 broke from its industrial servitude1 deserted the traditions of enamelling and chasing1 and took possession of its own domain4 ,there are still to be remarked1 of course1 a certain timidity and a certain lack of experience in the handling of the tool1 an execution at once summary and strangely careful1 a mixture of nave intentions and conventional modes of expression4 ,but the burin1 though only able as yet imperfectly to treat lines in mass and vary the values of shadows1 has mastered the secret of representing life with precision and elegance of outline1 and can render the facial expression of the most different types4 ,sacred and mythological personages1 sybils and prophets1 madonnas and the gods of ,olympus1 the men and women of the fifteenth century1 all not only reveal at the first glance their close pictorial relationship to the general inclinations and habits of ,florentine art of the fourteenth century1 but show us these tendencies continued and confirmed in a fresh form4 ,the delicacy which charms us in the bas-reliefs and the pictures of the time2 the aspiration1 common to contemporary painters and sculptors1 of idealising and heightening the expression of external facts2 the love of rare1 exquisite1 and somewhat subtle expression1 are to be found in the works left by the painter-engravers who were the immediate followers of ,finiguerra1 no less clearly than in the painted and sculptured subjects on the walls of contemporary churches and palaces4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ba4--;,,baccio ,,baldini4 ,theseus and ,ariadne4 ,whatever we may suppose to have been the part due to ,baccio ,baldini1 to ,botticelli1 to ,pollajuolo1 or to anybody else2 with whatever acuteness we may discern1 or think we discern1 the inequalities of style and the tricks of touch in different men2 all their works display a vigorous unity1 which must be carefully taken into account1 inasmuch as it gives its character to the school4 ,though we should even succeed in separately labelling with a proper name each one of the works which are all really dependent on one another1 the gain would be small4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bb4--;,,baccio ,,baldini4 ,the ,prophet ,baruch4 ,provided that neither the qualities nor the meaning of the whole movement be understood1 we may1 as regards the distribution of minor parts1 resign ourselves to doubt1 and even ignorance1 and console ourselves for the mystery which enshrouds these nameless talents3 and this the more readily that we can with greater impartiality appreciate their merits in the absence of biographical hypothesis and the commentaries of the scholar4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bc4--;,,baccio ,,baldini4 ,the ,sibyl of ,cum4 ,the prints due to the ,florentine painter-engravers who followed ,finiguerra mark a transitional epoch between the first stage of ,italian engraving and the time when the art1 having entered upon its period of virility1 used its powers with confidence1 and showed itself equal to any feat4 ,the privileges of fruitfulness and success in this second phase no longer1 it is true1 belong wholly to ,florence4 ,it would seem that1 after having again and again given birth to so much talent1 ,florentine art1 exhausted by rapid production1 reposed and voluntarily allowed the neighbouring schools to take her place4 ,even before the appearance of ,marc ,antonio1 the most important proofs of skill were given outside of ,tuscany2 and if towards the beginning1 or at the beginning1 of the sixteenth century1 the numerous plates engraved by ,robetta still continued to sustain the reputation of the ,florentine school1 such a result was owing far less to the individual talent of the engraver1 than to the charm and intrinsic value of his models4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bd4--,,print ,,belonging ,,to ,,the ,,set ,,entitled ,,the ,,game ,,of ,,cards4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #be4--,,mantegna4 ,the ,virgin and the ,infant ,jesus4 ,of all the ,italian engravers who1 towards the end of the fifteenth century1 completed the popularisation in their country of the art whose first secrets and examples were revealed and supplied by ,florence1 the one most powerfully inspired and most skilful was certainly ,andrea ,mantegna4 ,we need not here recall the true position of this great artist in the history of painting4 ,such of his pictures and decorative paintings as still exist possess a world-wide fame2 and1 though his engravings are less generally known1 they deserve equal celebrity1 and would justify equal admiration4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bf4--,,mantegna4 ,from the ,print ,representing a ,battle of ,sea-,gods4 ,the engraved work of ,mantegna consists of only twenty plates1 about half of which are religious1 and the remainder mythological or historical4 ,though none of these engravings bears the signature or initials of the ,paduan master1 their authenticity cannot be doubted4 ,it is abundantly manifest in certain marked characteristics of style and workmanship2 in the delicate yet strong precision of the drawing2 and in that somewhat rude elegance which was at the command of none of his contemporaries in the same degree4 ,every part of them1 even where they savour of imperfection or of extravagance1 bears witness to the indomitable will and independent genius of a master4 ,his touch imparts a passionate and thrilling aspect even to the details of architectural decoration and the smallest inanimate objects4 ,one would suppose that1 after having studied each part of his subject with the eye of a man of culture and a thinker1 ,mantegna1 when he came to represent it on the metal1 forgot all but the burning impatience of his hand and the fever of the struggle with his material4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bg4--,,mantegna4 ,the ,entombment4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bh4--,,mantegna4 ,jesus ,christ1 ,st4 ,andrew1 and ,st4 ,longinus4 ,and yet the handling alone of such works as the ,entombment and the ,triumph of ,csar bears witness to the talent of an engraver already more experienced than any of his ,italian predecessors and more alive to the real resources of his art4 ,the burin in ,mantegna's hand displays a firmness that can no longer be called stiffness2 and1 while it hardly as yet can be said to imitate painting1 competes in boldness and rapidity at least with the effect of chalk or the pen4 ,unlike the ,florentine engravers1 with their timid sparse strokes which scarcely served to mark the outlines1 ,mantegna works with masses of shadow produced by means of closer graining1 and seeks to express1 or at any rate to suggest1 internal modelling1 instead of contenting himself with the mere outlines of the body4 ,in a word1 ,mantegna as an engraver never forgot his knowledge as a painter2 and it is this1 combined with the rare vigour of his imagination1 which assures him the first place amongst the ,italian masters before the time of ,marc ,antonio4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bi4--,,mantegna4 ,from the ,triumph of ,julius ,csar4 ,mantegna had soon many imitators4 ,some of them1 as ,mocetto1 ,jacopo ,francia1 ,nicoletto da ,modena1 and ,jacopo de' ,barbari1 known as the ,master of the ,caduceus1 though profiting by his example1 did not push their docility so far as to sacrifice their own tastes and individual sentiment4 ,others1 as ,zoan ,andrea and ,giovanni ,antonio da ,brescia1 whose work has been sometimes mistaken for that of ,mantegna himself1 set themselves not only to make his manner their own1 but to imitate his engravings line for line4 ,however strongly ,mantegna's influence may have acted on the ,italian engravers of the fifteenth century1 or the early years of the sixteenth1 it hardly seems to have extended beyond ,lombardy1 ,venice1 and the small neighbouring states4 ,it was neither in ,florence nor in ,rome that the ,paduan example principally excited the spirit of imitation4 ,the works it gave rise to belong nearly all of them to artists formed under the master's very eyes1 or in close proximity to his teachings1 whether the manner of the leader of the school appeared in the efforts of pure copyists and imitators more or less adroit1 or whether it appeared in a much modified condition in the works of more independent disciples4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cj4--,,mocetto4 ,bacchus4 ,it was in ,verona1 ,venice1 ,modena1 and ,bologna that the movement which ,mantegna started in art found its most brilliant continuation4 ,as the engravers1 emboldened by experience1 gradually tended to reconcile something of their own inspirations and personal desires with the doctrines transmitted to them1 assuredly a certain amount of progress was manifested and some improvements were introduced into the use or the combination of means2 but in spite of such partial divergences1 the general appearance of the works proves their common origin1 and testifies to the imprudence of the efforts sometimes made to split into small isolated groups and infinite subdivisions what1 in reality1 forms a complete whole1 a genuine school4 ,the same spirit of unity is again found to predominate in all the works of the ,german engravers belonging to the second half of the fifteenth century4 ,with respect to purpose and style1 there is certainly a great difference between the early ,italian engravings and those which mark the beginning of the art in the towns of ,high and ,low ,germany4 ,but both have this in common3 that certain fixed traditions once founded remain for a time almost unchangeable2 that certain fixed methods of execution are held like articles of faith1 and only modified with an extreme respect for the time-honoured principles of early days4 ,the ,master of #adff1 and shortly after him1 ,martin ,schongauer1 had scarcely shown themselves1 before their example was followed1 and their teaching obediently practised1 by a greater number of disciples than had followed1 or were destined to follow1 in ,italy the lead of the contemporaries of ,finiguerra or ,mantegna4 ,the influence exerted by the latter had at least an equivalent in the ascendancy of ,martin ,schongauer2 while the ,master of #adff1 in the character of a founder1 which belongs to him1 has almost the same importance in the history of ,german engraving as the ,florentine goldsmith in that of ,italian engraving4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ca4--;,,battista ,,del ,,porto1 ,,called ,,the ,,master ,,of ,,the ,,bird4 ,st4 ,sebastian4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cb4--,,martin ,,schongauer4 ,the ,virgin and the ,infant ,jesus4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cc4--,,martin ,,schongauer4 ,st4 ,john the ,evangelist4 ,the ,master of #adff may1 indeed1 be regarded as the ,finiguerra of ,germany1 because he was the first in his own country to raise to the dignity of an art what had been only an industrial process in the hands of talentless workmen4 ,like wood engraving1 intaglio engraving1 such as we see it in ,german prints some years before the works of the ,master of #adff1 had only succeeded in spreading abroad1 in the towns on the banks of the ,rhine1 productions of a rude or grotesque symbolism1 in which1 notwithstanding recent attempts to exaggerate their value1 a want of technical experience was as evident as extreme poverty of conception4 ,these archological curiosities can have no legitimate place amongst works of art1 and we may without injustice take still less account of them1 as the rapid progress made by the ,master of #adff throws their inferiority into greater relief4 ,if the anonymous artist called the ,master of #adff be the true founder of the ,german school of engraving2 if he show himself cleverer than any of the ,italian engravers of the period--from the point of view only of practical execution1 and the right handling of the tool--it does not necessarily follow that he holds the same priority in talent as he certainly holds in order of time before all other engravers of the same age and country4 ,one of these1 ,martin ,schongauer1 called also handsome ,martin1 or for short1 ,martin ,schon1 may have a better right to the highest place4 ,endowed with more imagination than the ,master of #adff1 with a deeper feeling for truth and a clearer instinct for beauty1 he displays at least equal dexterity in the conduct of the work and in the handling of the graver4 ,assuredly1 if we compare ,martin ,schongauer's prints with the beautiful ,flemish or ,french engravings of the seventeenth century1 the combinations of lines which satisfied the ,german engraver cannot fail to appear insufficient1 or even archaically simple2 but if we compare them with the engraved work of all countries in the fifteenth century1 it will be acknowledged that1 even as a technical worker1 the master of ,colmar#ai exhibited a striking superiority over all his contemporaries4 ,such plates as the ,flight into ,egypt1 the ,death of the ,virgin1 the ,wise ,virgins1 and the ,foolish ,virgins1 are distinguished above all by power and by grace of expression2 but to these ideal qualities there is added so much firmness of drawing1 and so much decision of handling1 that1 in spite of all subsequent progress1 they deserve to be numbered with those which most honour the art of engraving4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cd4--,,martin ,,schongauer4 ,jesus ,betrayed by ,judas4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ce4--,,martin ,,schongauer4 ,the ,entombment4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cf4--,,martin ,,schongauer4 ,figure from the set entitled ,the ,foolish ,virgins4 ,martin ,schongauer1 like the ,master of #adff1 at once raised up both imitators and rivals in ,munich1 in ,mecheln in ,westphalia1 in ,nuremberg1 and in many other towns in the ,german ,states4 ,his influence and reputation extended even beyond the borders of ,germany2 and it was not the artists of the ,low ,countries alone who sought to profit by his example4 ,in ,florence young ,michelangelo did not disdain to study1 nor even to copy him1 for he painted a ,temptation of ,st4 ,anthony1 after ,schongauer's engraving4 ,italian miniature painters and engravers1 ,gherardo and ,nicoletto da ,modena1 amongst others1 reproduced many of his prints4 ,the very figures and ornamentation which decorate the ,books of ,hours1 published by ,simon ,vostre and ,hardouin at the beginning of the sixteenth century1 show that in the ,france of that period a zeal for imitation of the master's manner was not always restrained by the fear of actual plagiarism4 ,but the influence of ,martin ,schongauer on the progress of art and the talent of artists was more extended and decided in ,germany itself4 ,amongst those who most obediently submitted to1 and who best knew how to profit by1 that example1 we need only mention ,bartholomew ,schn1 ,franz von ,bocholt1 ,wenceslas of ,olmtz1 ,israel van ,mechenen1 ,glockenton1 and lastly1 the engraver with the monogram ,b ,m1 whose most important work1 the ,judgment of ,solomon1 was perhaps engraved from a picture by ,martin ,schongauer1 who like ,mantegna1 like ,pollajuolo1 and indeed like the majority of early engravers1 was not only a painter1 but a singularly good one4 ,his painted pictures still belonging to the town of ,colmar1 and1 setting aside his rare talent as an engraver1 even the little ,death of the ,virgin1 which has been the property of the ,london ,national ,gallery since #ahfj1 would be enough to establish his reputation4#bj ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cg4--,,martin ,,schongauer4 ,st4 ,anthony4 ,the importance of such an artist is in every respect that of the leader of a school and a master in the strictest acceptation of the word4 ,martin ,schongauer in his own person1 and through the talent he helped to foster1 did so much1 and so greatly honoured his country1 that it is only just to regard him as one of the most glorious representatives of national art1 and to place his name beside those of ,albert ,drer and ,holbein1 as the three men in whom the essential qualities and characteristics of the ,german genius have been most typically represented4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,line ,,engraving ,,and ,,wood ,,engraving ,,in ,,germany ,,and ,,italy ,,in ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,century4 ,thanks to the ,master of #adff and to ,martin ,schongauer1 line engraving in ,germany was marked by brilliant and unexpected advances1 whilst wood engraving merely followed the humble traditions of early days4 ,it is true that the latter process was no longer exclusively applied to the production of occasional unbound prints1 or cheap religious pictures on loose leaves1 of which we have a specimen in the ,saint ,christopher of #adbc4 ,in ,germany1 towards the end of the fifteenth century1 the custom had spread of illustrating 7as we now call it7 type-printed books with wood engravings4 ,to mention a few amongst many examples1 we have the ,casket of the ,true ,riches of ,salvation 7,schatzbehalter71 published at ,nuremberg in #adia1 and the ,chronicorum ,liber called the ,nuremberg ,chronicle1 printed in the same town in #adic1 both of which contain numerous wood-cuts interpolated in the text4 ,these cuts are not so bad as the earlier ,german work in the same process1 yet they are far from good4 ,they scarcely hold out a promise of the advance in skill made some years later by wood-cutters under the influence of ,albert ,drer1 and if they are compared with the illustrations which adorn ,italian books of the same period--the ,decameron of #adib1 for instance1 and especially the ,hypnerotomachia ,poliphili of #adii--they appear still worse4 ,though they are not of much value in themselves1 the prints which accompany the writings in the ,casket and the ,nuremberg ,chronicle deserve attention4 ,they were done from designs supplied by ,albert ,drer's master1 ,michael ,wolgemut2 and the gulf between the rather feeble talent of the older man1 and the profound knowledge and powerful originality of his illustrious pupil1 can thus be easily measured4 ,albert ,drer was the son of a ,hungarian goldsmith established at ,nuremberg4 ,he tells us himself how1 at the age of fifteen1 he left his father's shop for ,wolgemut's studio3 not that he wished to free himself from parental authority1 but simply to hasten the time when he might do his share towards satisfying the wants of a numerous family4 ,my father1 says ,albert ,drer1 in his autobiographical notes1 could only supply himself1 his wife1 and children#ba with the strict necessaries of life2 and spent his life in great hardship and severe hard work4 ,he suffered in addition many adversities and troubles4 ,every one who knew him spoke well of him1 for he led a worthy ,christian life1 was patient and gentle1 at peace with every one1 and always thankful to ,god4 ,he did not seek worldly pleasures1 was a man of few words1 kept little company1 and feared ,god4 ,my dear father was very earnest about bringing up his children in the fear of ,god1 for it was his greatest desire to lead them aright1 so that they might be pleasing to ,god and man4 ,and his daily injunction to us was that we should love ,god1 and deal uprightly with our neighbour4444 ,i felt at length more like an artist than a goldsmith1 and ,i begged my father to let me paint2 but he was displeased with the request1 for he regretted the time ,i had lost in learning his trade4 ,however1 he gave in to me1 and on ,st4 ,andrew's ,day1 #adhf1 he apprenticed me to ,master ,michael4 ,albert ,drer's progress was indeed rapid1 at least his progress in engraving1 for he drew with remarkable talent before he entered ,wolgemut's studio4 ,the charming portrait of himself at the age of thirteen1 still preserved at ,vienna in the ,albertine ,collection1 sufficiently proves that he required no lessons from his new master in the skilful handling of a pencil3 the teaching of his own mind had been enough4 ,but it was otherwise with engraving1 where he had to advance by way of experiment1 and gain capacity from practice4 ,and it was not till about #adif1 after many years of apprenticeship1 that he ventured to publish his first engraved work4 ,his early works1 moreover1 are very probably only copies from ,wolgemut1#bb whereas the original works which followed1 though retaining something of the traditional manner1 bear nevertheless a stamp of independent feeling4 ,thus too1 and at nearly the same time1 the genius of ,perugino's gifted pupil began to show itself under the borrowed forms of the only style permitted in the school2 and the obedient hand which portrayed the ,sposalizio in the manner and under the eyes of his master1 in secret already obeyed the mind of ,raphael4 ,meanwhile ,albert ,drer1 whose fame had begun to spread beyond the walls of ,nuremberg1 undertook a tour through ,germany1 and was absent for four years2 and when he returned to settle in his native town1 he married ,agnes ,frey1 the daughter of a respectable and wealthy merchant in ,nuremberg4 ,if we may believe report1 the union was unhappy1 and darkened and shortened by cruel domestic troubles the life of the noble artist4 ,the story has often been told how his imperious and greedy wife kept him continually at work1 and how1 as prints paid better than pictures1 she would not allow him to sacrifice the burin to the brush4 ,dreading the reproaches and accusations of idleness to which she gave vent on the smallest provocation1 ,drer bent beneath the yoke and rarely left his studio4 ,one day1 for instance1 they relate that he was discovered in the street by his wife1 whom he believed to be at the other end of the town1 and was forced to return and to expiate his momentary idleness by working far beyond his usual time4 ,the poor artist died at last of overwork and misery2 and his hateful widow only regretted his death because it set a term to his earnings4 ,such is the account in all the books that deal with ,drer1 from the work of the ,german ,sandrart1 in the seventeenth century1 down to the biographical dictionaries published in our own time by ,french writers2 such is the story which has served as text to so many denunciations of this new ,xantippe1 and to so many elegies upon her victim4 ,but the facts of the case were not carefully examined4 ,the result of ,herr ,thausing's scrupulous investigation of the subject1 and the authentic testimony he has adduced1 show1 on the contrary1 that ,albert ,drer and his wife lived on pretty good terms till his death2 so that we may banish as idle fables the torments which he was supposed to have suffered1 and the sorrows that were said to have shortened his life4 ,the story so frequently repeated after ,vasari1 of ,drer's quarrels with a certain forger of his works at ,venice1 where copies signed with his monogram were publicly sold as originals1 rests on a surer basis4 ,the said forger was a young man of no reputation who had conceived this idea of commanding a sale for his works1 and of thus quickly realising a profit on the renown of ,drer and the simplicity of his customers4 ,it was not long1 however1 before the fraud was discovered1 when he tried1 it is said1 to turn it into a joke2 but the ,german artist could not be brought to see it in that light4 ,it was a case in which his wife was not concerned1 and he could take his own part openly4 ,he applied at once to the ,senate1 denounced the fraud1 and obtained a decree condemning the offender thenceforth to affix to his plates no other name than his own4 ,this name1 destined to become celebrated1 was no other than that of ,marc ,antonio ,raimondi4 ,in our own days the truth of this story has been more than once doubted1 at least in so far as the legal consequences are concerned1 for the forgery itself cannot be denied4 ,the plates of the ,life of the ,virgin1 engraved by ,marc ,antonio from ,albert ,drer1 and bearing the monogram of the latter1 are known to every one2 but it has been objected as an argument against the sentence that1 in the state of morals and legislation in the sixteenth century1 to affix another person's signature to these plates did not constitute a misdemeanour2 and that ,marc ,antonio1 by appropriating the name and the works of ,albert ,drer1 did no worse than many imitators of ,martin ,schongauer had done before him1 no worse1 indeed1 than was presently to be done with regard to his own works by imitators as unscrupulous as himself4 ,this is quite true2 but it is no less so that ,albert ,drer's signature1 so deliberately added by ,marc ,antonio to the copies he engraved of the ,life of the ,virgin1 is not to be found on the plates of the ,history of the ,passion1 engraved later on by ,marc ,antonio in imitation of the ,german master4 ,it is impossible not to suppose that in the meantime a judgment of some sort was passed1 obliging the copyist to appear under his true colours4 ,the just satisfaction accorded to the demands of ,albert ,drer was not1 however1 to preserve him from the injury afterwards done him by imitators of another kind4 ,some ,venetian painters followed the example of ,marc ,antonio1 and1 adding insult to injury1 energetically abused the very man whose works they impudently copied4 ,if you saw these men1 wrote ,drer to his friend ,pirkheimer1 you would take them for the best people in the world4 ,for my part1 ,i can never help laughing at them when they speak to me4 ,they are quite aware that one knows all about their knavery2 but they don't care4 ,you may be sure ,i was warned in time not to eat and drink with them4 ,there are painters in ,venice who copy my works1 clamouring loudly the while that ,i am ruining art by departing from the antique4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ch4-;,,hans ,,sebald ,,beham4 ,the ,jester and the ,lovers4 ,albert ,drer1 however1 found in the welcome he received from the most celebrated ,italian artists a compensation for the bad conduct to which he was a victim4 ,old ,giovanni ,bellini himself overwhelmed his young rival with praise1 and begged for one of his works1 for which he declared himself eager to pay well4 ,lastly1 when ,drer was once more in his own country1 and might have considered himself forgotten by the ,italian painters1 ,raphael1 the greatest of all1 sent him as a token of his admiration some proofs of plates that ,marc ,antonio had just engraved under his own eye4 ,what happened at ,venice was nearly happening at ,nuremberg4 ,the ,german engraver did not dream of copying the works of his old imitator as a sort of quid pro quo2 but1 as he really appreciated them at their true value1 he did not hesitate to show them to his pupils1 and to recommend them to their imitation4 ,aldegrever1 ,hans ,schaflein1 ,baldung ,grn1 ,hans ,sebald ,beham1 indeed1 the greater part of the so-called ,little ,masters1 who were destined all their lives to remain faithful to tradition1 were content to admire without any thought of imitation2 but those who were younger and less fixed simply took ,albert ,drer at his word4 ,perhaps he scarcely welcomed such excessive docility4 ,but their master having thus almost acknowledged a superior1 these young men hurriedly left him to put themselves under the guidance of the conqueror4 ,the deserters were numerous4 ,georg ,pencz1 ,bartholomew ,beham1 and ,jacob ,binck1 who had been the first to cross the ,alps1 succeeded in copying ,marc ,antonio well enough to cause several of the subjects they engraved to be mistaken for his own4 ,when in their turn1 and in ,rome itself1 they had educated ,german pupils1 these latter returned to their own country to finish the revolution already begun1 by spreading still further the taste for the ,italian manner2 so that the school of ,drer1 the only one known in ,germany some years before1 was1 after the second generation1 almost entirely absorbed in that of the ,italians4 ,illustration3 ,,fig #ci4 ,,hans ,,sebald ,,beham4 ,the ,three ,soldiers4 ,the engravings of ,albert ,drer1 even those produced in the full force of his talents1 for a long time obtained but little favour in ,france and ,england4 ,they now possess zealous admirers1 and modern painting now and then shows signs of being affected by this enthusiasm2 it is in the new ,german school1 of which ,cornelius and ,kaulbach were the chiefs1 that the ,nuremberg master seems to have exerted the most important influence1 and one which is1 even in some respects1 to be regretted4 ,it would1 however1 be unjust to ,drer to saddle him with the burden of errors of which he was but the involuntary cause4 ,however exaggerated may have been the reaction produced by his followers three centuries after his death1 considered separately and apart from them1 he remains1 nevertheless1 an eminent artist and the greatest of all his countrymen4 ,vasari considers that1 as a painter and sculptor1 he would have equalled the great masters of ,italy1 if he had been born in ,tuscany1 and if the study of the antique had helped him to impart to his figures as much beauty and elegance as they have truth and delicacy2 as a mathematician he ranked among the first of his time in ,germany2 as an engraver--and it is as such only that we can look upon him here--he enormously advanced the progress of the art4 ,no one before him ever handled the burin with the same skill and vigour2 no one ever cut outlines on the metal with such absolute certainty1 or so carefully reproduced every detail of modelling4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #dj4--;,,albert ,d,,rer4 ,willibald ,pirkheimer4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #da4--;,,albert ,d,,rer4 ,the ,holy ,face4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #db4--;,,albert ,d,,rer4 ,the ,standard ,bearer4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #dc4--;,,albert ,d,,rer4 ,the ,ride4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #dd4--;,,albert ,d,,rer4 ,the ,pommel of ,maximilian's ,sword4 ,the qualities which distinguished his talent and manner are found to nearly the same extent in all his work4 ,as examples1 however1 peculiarly expressive of his delicate yet powerful talent1 we may mention the hunting ,st4 ,hubert--or1 more probably1 ,st4 ,eustace--kneeling before a stag with a miraculous crucifix on its head1 the ,st4 ,jerome in his ,cell1 the print called the ,knight and ,death1 and lastly the subject known as ,melancholia1 which should rather be called ,reflection1 but reflection in its gravest1 darkest1 one might almost say its most despairing1 attitude4 ,this piece1 which even ,vasari allows to be incomparable1 represents a woman seated1 her head resting on one hand1 whilst she holds in the other a compass with which she is trifling mechanically4 ,as though to suggest the limitations and nothingness of human knowledge1 an hour-glass and various scientific instruments are scattered about2 whilst in the middle distance a child1 doubtless an image of youthful illusions1 is attentively writing1 and contrasts in its serenity with the troubled countenance and despairing attitude of the principal figure4 ,had ,drer only engraved this one extraordinary plate1 had he only produced this one work1 as strikingly original in execution as in intention1 it would be enough to mark his position for ever in the history of art1 and to commend him to everlasting honour4 ,but there are many other works from the same hand which might be also mentioned to confirm or to increase our admiration4 ,there are many1 besides the ,melancholia1 where the almost savage energy of the style is allied to an extraordinary manipulative delicacy in the expression of details4 ,sometimes1 indeed1 his energy degenerates into violence and his precision into dryness2 sometimes--as a rule1 in fact--the general effect is impaired by a too detailed insistence on subordinate forms1 while the beauty of these forms is at least affected by the minute care with which they have been separately studied and expressed4 ,but these imperfections1 or1 if you like1 these faults1 may be attributed in part to the tendencies and prejudices of the period1 and in part to that national taste for excessive analysis which has been a characteristic of the ,german mind in every age4 ,that ,drer's merits1 on the other hand1 are entirely his own1 may easily be seen by comparing his works not only with those of former engravers1 but with those of foreign contemporary masters4 ,neither in ,italy1 nor anywhere else1 is it possible to find in the sixteenth century an engraver of such original inspiration and possessing so much knowledge and technical skill4 ,even ,marc ,antonio1 superior though he may be in sentiment and majesty of style1 cannot dispossess ,drer of his lawful renown1 nor take from his art its peculiar virtue and authority4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #de4--,,marc ,,antonio4 ,lucretia4 ,after ,raphael4 ,marc ,antonio ,raimondi was born at ,bologna1 where he studied in the school of the painter-goldsmith ,francesco ,francia1 and was still only an unknown worker in niello1 and the author of some rather indifferent plates engraved from his own or his master's designs1#bc when a journey to ,venice and the careful study of ,albert ,drer's engravings showed him the inmost possibilities of an art of which he had till then known little more than the mere mechanical processes4 ,unfortunately1 as we have seen1 the young engraver was not content with copying these1 the best models of the day1 for his own improvement1 but1 to secure a double profit1 pushed his imitation a step further1 and copied the signature with as much care as the style4 ,some years later he went to ,rome1 where ,raphael1 on the recommendation of ,giulio ,romano1 allowed him to engrave one of his own designs1 the ,lucretia4 ,other originals from ,raphael's pencil were afterwards reproduced by ,marc ,antonio with so much success that these fac-similes of the ideas of the divine ,master were soon in everybody's hands1 and the best judges1 even ,raphael himself1 were fully satisfied4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #df4--,,marc ,,antonio4 ,poetry4 ,after ,raphael4 ,the nobility of feeling1 and the purity of taste and execution1 which shine in these now classic plates have never been surpassed4 ,these are the qualities1 and these only1 which we must look for and admire unreservedly2 to seek for more1 as to regret its absence1 would be superfluous4 ,to complain of the absence of colour and of arial perspective would be as unjust as to expect from ,rembrandt the style and types of the ,italian school4 ,rembrandt's prints are impregnated with poetry in their tone and in the harmony of their effects2 those of ,marc ,antonio are models of beauty1 as regards line and dignity of form4 ,the two great masters of ,bologna and of ,leyden1 so opposed to each other in the nature of their aspirations and the choice of their methods1 have yet1 each in his own way1 proved their case and carried their point2 and to each must be allotted his own peculiar share of glory4 ,it would be idle to point out with regret1 as some have done1 what is lacking in the masterpieces of ,marc ,antonio1 or to say that greater freedom in rendering colour or in managing light and shade would have lent them an additional charm4#bd ,such qualities should be looked for elsewhere than in subjects engraved--not1 it must be remembered1 from pictures--but from pen or chalk drawings4 ,in sixteenth century ,italy they could scarcely come from the burin of one of ,raphael's pupils3 an epic burin1 so to speak1 and one contemptuous of qualities then considered of secondary importance4 ,moreover1 the hand of him who held it was bold rather than skilful1 vigorous rather than patient4 ,to model a body in shadow1 he employed unevenly crossed or almost parallel hatchings1 drawn at different widths apart1 and in subordination to the larger feeling of the form and movement he wished to express4 ,then lighter strokes led up to the half-light1 and a few dots at unequal distances bordered on the light4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #dg4--,,marc ,,antonio4 ,apollo4 ,after ,raphael4 ,what could be simpler than such a method8 ,yet what more exact in its results1 and what more expressive in drawing8 ,the exact crossing of lines mattered little to ,marc ,antonio4 ,what he was taken up with and wanted to make visible was neither the manner nor the choice of workmanship3 that might be simple indeed1 and he was satisfied if only the beauty of a head or the general aspect of a figure were striking at a first glance1 if only the appearance of the whole was largely rendered and well defined4 ,sometimes one outline is corrected by a second1 and these alterations1 all the more interesting as we may suspect that they were ordered by ,raphael himself1 prove both the engraver's passion for correct drawing and his small regard for mere niceties of craftsmanship4 ,the time was yet distant when1 in this same ,italy1 the trifling search after common technicalities should take the place of such wise views2 when men should set to work to reproduce the shadows of a face or a piece of drapery by lozenges containing a semicircle1 a little cross1 or even something resembling a young serpent2 when engravers like ,morghen and his followers should see1 in the reproduction of masterpieces of the brush1 only an opportunity for assembling groups of more or less complicated lines and parading their dexterity1 and should gain by these tricks the applause of all men and the name of artists4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #dh4--,,marc ,,antonio4 ,portrait of ,raphael4 ,the school founded by ,marc ,antonio soon became the most numerous and active of all4 ,we have seen that the ,germans themselves crowded to ,rome1 and surrounded the master who had caused them to forget ,albert ,drer4 ,engravers came to learn or to perfect their knowledge in the same school from every part of ,italy4 ,there were ,marco da ,ravenna1 ,agostino ,veniziano1 ,giovanni ,caraglio da ,verona1 ,il ,vecchio da ,parma1 and ,bonasone da ,bologna4 ,some years later came the family of the ,mantovani1 a member of which1 ,diana ,scultori1 more often called ,diana ,ghisi1 presented perhaps the first example1 so common afterwards1 of a female engraver4 ,many others1 whose names and works have remained more or less celebrated1 descend from ,marc ,antonio1 whether they received his teaching directly or through his pupils4 ,he1 whilst so much talent was being developed under his influence1 continued the kind of work in which he had excelled from the beginning of his stay in ,rome1 confining himself to the engraving of ,raphael's compositions3 that is1 as we have already said1 of his drawings4 ,it is this which explains the difference1 at first sight incomprehensible1 between certain prints by ,marc ,antonio and the same subjects as painted by ,raphael4 ,the painter often submitted to the engraver pen or pencil sketches of subjects which he afterwards altered with his brush when transferring them to walls or panels3 the ,st4 ,cecilia1 the ,parnassus1 the ,poetry1 for instance1 which are so unlike in the copy and in what wrongly appears to have been the original4 ,raphael often drew specially for engraving3 as in the ,massacre of the ,innocents1 the ,judgment of ,paris the ,plague of ,phrygia1 c42 but in either case ,marc ,antonio had but to find the means of faithfully rendering given forms with the graver1 without troubling himself about those difficulties which the luminous or delicate qualities of colour would certainly have introduced4 ,raphael's death1 however1 deprived the engraver of an influence which1 to the great advantage of his talent1 he had obeyed submissively for ten years4 ,marc ,antonio would not continue to work from the drawings of the master who could no longer superintend him2 but he still continued to honour him in the person of his favourite pupil1 ,giulio ,romano1 to whom he attached himself1 and whose works he reproduced almost exclusively4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #di4--,,marc ,,antonio4 ,the ,three ,doctors4 ,the connection of the two artists resulted in the publication of some fine engravings1 amongst others the ,hercules and ,antus1 but it unfortunately terminated in a disgraceful business4 ,giulio ,romano1 following the dissolute manners of the day1 rather than the example and traditions of the noble leader of the school1 stooped to design a series of boldly licentious subjects4 ,marc ,antonio consented to engrave them1 and ,pietro ,aretino helped still further to degrade the undertaking by composing an explanatory sonnet to be printed opposite to each plate4 ,the result was a book whose title is still infamous4 ,in publishing it the two artists took care not to sign their names4 ,they were1 however1 discovered by the boldness of the style and the firmness of the line2 for1 surprising as it may seem1 neither took the trouble to alter his usual manner3 they merely profaned it4 ,here1 assuredly1 their wonted dignity of form and energy of workmanship appear somewhat incongruous qualities4#be ,the culprits were soon discovered2 and ,clement ,,vii4 issued a warrant to pursue them1 ordering1 at the same time1 that every copy of the work should be destroyed4 ,aretino fled to ,venice1 ,giulio ,romano to ,mantua1 and the only sufferer was the engraver4 ,he was imprisoned for several months1 and only set at liberty1 thanks to frequent requests made by ,giulio de' ,medici and the sculptor ,baccio ,bandinelli1 from whose original1 to prove his gratitude1 he executed the beautiful ,martyrdom of ,st4 ,lawrence1 one of the masterpieces of ,italian engraving4 ,the rest of ,marc ,antonio's life is only imperfectly known4 ,it is said that he was wounded and left for dead in the streets when ,rome was sacked by the ,spanish under the ,constable de ,bourbon2 that he was then taken prisoner1 and only recovered his liberty at the cost of a ransom large enough to ruin him2 and that he then took refuge at ,bologna1 where it would appear he soon afterwards died3 not1 as has been alleged1 murdered by the lawful possessor of one of his plates1 which he had himself forged1 but1 so says ,vasari1 nearly reduced to beggary 7poco meno che mendico71 and at any rate completely forgotten4 ,marc ,antonio's death did not bring with it the ruin of line engraving in ,italy4 ,the numerous pupils he had educated1 and in turn the pupils of these1 handed down to the beginning of the seventeenth century the master's manner1 and propagated his doctrines in neighbouring countries4 ,we have spoken of the revolution which their works produced in ,german art2 we shall presently see ,french art submitting in its turn to ,italian influences4 ,meanwhile1 and even during ,marc ,antonio's life1 a particular sort of engraving was making rapid progress in ,italy4 ,it consisted in the employment of a process1 popularised by ,ugo da ,carpi1 for obtaining from several wooden blocks proofs of engravings in camaeu3 that is1 as we explained at the beginning of this book1 proofs in two1 three1 or four tones1 offering almost the same appearance as drawings washed in with water-colour3 a process which ,ugo did not really invent1 but only improved from the first attempts made at ,augsburg in #aeaj by ,jobst ,necker1 which were destined to be still further improved by ,nicol ,vicentino1 ,andrea ,andreani1 ,antonio da ,trento1 and many others4 ,a great number of pieces1 executed in the same manner from ,raphael and ,parmigiano1 prove the skill of ,ugo da ,carpi1 who unfortunately took it into his head to introduce into painting even more radical changes than those he had first promoted in engraving4 ,he conceived the strange idea of painting a whole picture with his finger1 without once having recourse to a brush1 and1 the proceeding appearing to him praiseworthy1 he perpetuated the recollection of it in a few proud words at the bottom of the canvas4 ,michelangelo1 to whom the picture was shown as a remarkable curiosity1 merely said that the only remarkable thing about it was the folly of the author4 ,what would he have thought of ,luca ,cambiaso1 the ,genoese1 whose talent consisted in painting with both hands at once8 ,the practice of engraving in camaeu was not continued in ,italy and ,germany beyond the last years of the sixteenth century4 ,even before then wood engraving1 properly so called1 had reached a stage of considerable importance in both countries2 and it had distinguished itself by decided enough progress to cause engraving in camaeu to lose much of the favour with which at first it was welcomed4 ,we said at the beginning of this chapter that a real regeneration in wood engraving took place in ,germany under the influence of ,albert ,drer4 ,we have plates from the drawings of the master1 engraved1 if not entirely by himself1 at any rate to a certain extent with his practical co-operation2 we have others--for instance1 the ,life of the ,virgin and the ,passion1 to which we have referred in speaking of ,marc ,antonio's copies of them with the burin4 ,but1 in addition to these1 we have a number of wood engravings1 earlier than the second half of the sixteenth century1 which prove the progress made in the art at this time in ,germany1 and the ability with which it was practised by the successors of ,wolgemut4 ,wood engraving was no longer1 as in the time of ,wolgemut1 a mere mode of linear imitation1 and only fit to represent form by outlines2 it was now capable of suggesting modelling and effect1 not of course with that finished delicacy and freedom which can only be produced in true line engraving1 but with an energetic exactness quite1 in accordance with the special conditions and resources of the process4 ,the ,triumphal ,arch of the ,emperor ,maximilian1 by ,hans ,burgkmair and to some extent by ,albert ,drer2 the ,theuerdannck1 an allegorical history of the same prince by ,hans ,schafflein2 the ,passion of ,jesus ,christ2 and the ,illustrium ,ducum ,saxoni ,effigies1 by ,lucas ,cranach1 as well as many other collections published at ,nuremberg1 ,augsburg1 ,weimar1 or ,wittenberg1 deserve mention as remarkable examples of the peculiar skill of the ,german artists of the time4 ,indeed1 when1 a little later1 the ,dance of ,death1 by ,ltzelburger1 from ,holbein1 made its appearance1 this masterpiece in wood engraving closed the period of progress which had gone on in ,germany from the beginning of the sixteenth century1 and marked in its general history the time when the art itself had told its last secret1 and attained perfection4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ej4--,l,,tzelburger4 ,the ,miser4 ,after ,holbein4 ,whilst this regeneration in wood engraving was being accomplished in ,germany1 the art continued to be practised in ,italy1 and especially in ,venice1 with a feeling for composition1 and that delicate reticence of handling1 of which the cuts in the ,hypnerotomachia ,poliphili1 published before the end of the fifteenth century 7#adii71 and in other books printed some years later1 are such striking examples4 ,the ,italian wood engravers of the sixteenth century1 however1 did not limit themselves so entirely to the national traditions as to stifle altogether any attempt at innovation4 ,they had already tried to enliven even the execution of the illustrations intended to accompany letterpress by more decided suggestions of light and shade and general effect4 ,this is the reason of the successful first appearance1 and the present value1 of so many beautiful volumes from the printing presses of ,marcolini da ,forli1 ,giolito da ,ferrari and other printers established at ,venice4 ,illustration3 ,,prover4 ,,xxi4 ,,fig4 #ea4--,l,,tzelburger4 ,the ,rich ,sinner4 ,after ,holbein4 ,little by little1 however1 the domain of wood engraving widened1 or rather the object which wood engravers set themselves to attain was changed4 ,instead of confining themselves1 as in the past1 to the part of commentators of authors and illustrators of books1 they set to work1 like the line engravers1 to publish1 in larger dimensions than the size of a book1 prints reproducing separate drawings and sometimes even pictures4 ,the works of ,titian specially served as models to skilful wood engravers1 some of whom1 ,domenico delle ,greche and ,nicol ,boldrini amongst others1 are said to have worked in the studio1 even under the master's own eye4 ,according to the careful testimony of ,ridolphi1 confirmed by ,mariette1 ,titian gave more than mere advice4 ,he seems1 more than once1 to have sketched with his own hand on the wood the designs to be reproduced by the wood engravers2 and amongst the prints thus begun by him1 several ,virgins in landscapes and a ,triumph of ,christ may be mentioned3 the last a work1 says ,mariette1 drawn with fine taste1 in which the hatchings forming the outlines and shadows 444 produce a softness and mellowness understood by ,titian alone4 ,however brief the preceding observations on the progress of engraving in the sixteenth century in ,germany and ,italy may appear1 they will perhaps be sufficient to indicate the reciprocal influence then exercised by the engravers of both countries4 ,without ceasing to be ,italian in their real preferences1 their tastes1 and their innate love of majesty of style1 ,marc ,antonio and his disciples understood how to improve their practical execution by ,albert ,drer's example1 exactly as ,drer's pupils and their followers1 while continuing to be ,german as it were in spite of themselves1 tried to become ,italianised as best they might4 ,but it is time to speak of the school of the ,low ,countries1 which appeared to stand aloof1 as much from the progress in ,germany initiated by ,martin ,schongauer and ,albert ,drer1 as from the more recent advance in ,italy4 ,apparently unaffected by external influences1 it was content to rely on its own powers1 and to make use of its own resources1 whilst awaiting the time1 now close at hand1 when it should in its turn supply example and teaching to those who had till then believed themselves to be the teachers4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,line ,,engraving ,,and ,,etching ,,in ,,the ,,low ,,countries1 ,,to ,,the ,,second ,,half ,,of ,,the ,,seventeenth ,,century4 ,the history of engraving in the ,low ,countries really dates but from the early years of the sixteenth century3 that is1 from the appearance of the prints of ,lucas van ,leyden 7#adid-aecc74 ,before that time certain line engravers1 such as the so-called ,matre aux ,banderoles1 the ,master of the ,streamers1 and those other anonymous artists of the fifteenth century who composed the group called the ,dutch primitives1 had attempted to widen the domain of the art1 till then confined to the wood-cutters who were the contemporaries or successors of the xylographists of the ,speculum ,salvationis and the ,biblia ,pauperum4 ,but1 whilst the ,german and ,italian engravers were distinguishing themselves by the brilliancy of their achievement1 their contemporaries in the ,low ,countries were producing works little fitted to compete with those of the foreign masters4 ,they only succeeded in showing themselves more or less able artisans4 ,lucas van ,leyden was the first to use the burin artistically1 or at least to handle it with a boldness and knowledge never foreshadowed in the timid essays of his predecessors4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #eb4--;,,anonymous ,,artist ,,of ,,the ,,fifteenth ,,century4 ,hercules and ,omphale4 ,while still a child ,lucas van ,leyden had already attracted the attention of his countrymen by his talent as a painter1 and his sketch in distemper1 the ,story of ,st4 ,hubert--done1 it is alleged1 at the age of twelve--placed him at once amongst artists of repute4 ,some years later the publication of his prints brought him to the first rank4 ,he maintained his place till the end of his life2 and if1 after his death1 the ,dutch and ,flemish engravers still further perfected the art he had practised1 they did but follow in his footsteps and draw more abundantly from the source he had discovered4 ,the principal feature of the works of ,lucas van ,leyden1 and in general of all those belonging to his school1 is a keen feeling for the phenomena of light4 ,albert ,drer1 and even ,marc ,antonio1 despised or misunderstood this essential quality of art4 ,in their works there is hardly any gradation of tone to suggest atmospheric distance1 and we might mention engravings of theirs where objects consigned to the background are almost as distinct as those in the foreground4 ,it was ,lucas van ,leyden who conceived the idea of perceptibly diminishing the values according to their distance1 of giving to the shadows more or less of transparency or depth1 as the case might be1 and of endowing the lights and half-lights with relatively greater force or delicacy4 ,reasoning so valid--based as it was on the real appearances of nature--was the principal cause of the young ,dutch master's success4 ,in his numerous engravings1 however1 qualities of another order are added to the merit of this innovation4 ,the variety of facial expression1 the truth of attitude and gesture1 are no less remarkable than the harmony of effect1 and the attempts at what we may venture to call naturalistic colour4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ec4--,,lucas ,,van ,,leyden4 ,adam and ,eve driven from ,paradise4 ,considered only from the point of view of execution1 the pieces engraved by ,lucas van ,leyden are far from possessing the same largeness of design and modelling1 and the same simplicity of handling1 which the works of ,marc ,antonio exhibit1 and1 in a word1 have none of that masterly ease in the rendering of form which characterises the ,italian engraver4 ,nor do they exhibit the determination to pursue the truth even in minute details1 and to sternly insist on the portrayal of such truth when recognised1 which distinguishes the work of ,albert ,drer4 ,they are to be specially praised for delicacy of handling1 and for the skilful application of the processes of engraving to the picturesque representation of reality4 ,thus1 instead of surrounding with an invariably firm outline objects or bodies at a distance from one another1 instead of treating alike the contour of a figure in the foreground1 and that of a tree1 or group of trees1 in the background1 ,lucas van ,leyden altered his work to suit the degree of relative clearness or uncertainty presented in nature by the forms of objects at different distances from the eye4 ,an unbroken line is his method for giving the required boldness to such contours as1 from the place they occupy1 must be strongly defined and dominate the rest4 ,when1 on the contrary1 he wishes to reproduce the half-veiled lines of a distant landscape1 and to imitate that tremulous and floating aspect assumed by an object in proportion to its remoteness and the amount of intervening atmosphere1 he changes his touch2 and1 instead of bounding by a single continuous line the object reproduced1 employs a series of small broken lines1 superimposed in a horizontal or oblique direction2 and thus1 instead of a dry definition of outline1 he renders with deliberate hesitation that floating quality which is to be observed in nature4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ed4--,,lucas ,,van ,,leyden4 ,the ,visitation4 ,lucas van ,leyden was the first amongst engravers who took into account with any measure of success the assumed distances of his models1 in order to organise in their representation a varying value of tones and a general gradation of force4 ,this important change he introduced from the beginning3 that is to say1 from #aejh1 the year of his first dated print1 ,the ,monk ,sergius ,killed by ,mahomet 7which1 by the way1 might be more appropriately entitled ,mahomet before the ,body of a ,hermit ,murdered by ,one of his ,servants74#bf ,here1 as in the master's other prints1 the backgrounds are treated with so light a touch that their distance can be felt2 the handling becomes less energetic1 the burin ploughs the copper less heavily1 as the objects recede from the front of the composition4 ,moreover1 every subordinate form is observed and rendered with singular delicacy2 every face and every detail of drapery bear testimony1 by the way they are engraved1 to the clear insight of the artist and his extraordinary skill of hand4 ,his work is strictly realistic1 his style precise and clear rather than loftily inspired2 and we look almost in vain to him for taste1 properly so called1 the feeling for the beautiful1 in fact1 the understanding of the ideal conditions of art4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ee4--,,lucas ,,van ,,leyden4 ,pyramus and ,thisbe4 ,this it is which constitutes the principal difference1 and clearly marks the distance1 between the talent of ,lucas van ,leyden and that of ,mantegna1 of ,marc ,antonio1 or of any other ,italian engraver of the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries4 ,besides1 neither the defects nor the merits of the master are entirely the result of his inclinations or his personal habits4 ,the very spirit of ,dutch art and the instinctive preferences of the future school of the seventeenth century are to be found in embryo in his works1 which tend less to initiate us into the mysteries of the invisible1 than to place before us the faithful image of what really exists4 ,it was the fate of ,holland1 as ,eugne ,fromentin has well said1#bg to like ce qui ressemble1 to return to it one day or other1 to outlive all besides1 and to survive and be saved itself by portraiture4 ,taking the word in its widest acceptation1 ,lucas van ,leyden is already engraving portraits4 ,it is by the careful imitation of living nature or still-life that he means to interest us3 even when his models are in themselves of little worth1 or1 as is sometimes the case1 are the reverse of beautiful4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ef4--,,lucas ,,van ,,leyden4 ,portrait of the ,emperor ,maximilian ,i4 ,in representing1 for example1 ,david ,calming the ,fury of ,saul1 with what simple good faith he makes use of the first type he comes across--a stout clodhopper whom he has picked up in the street or at the tavern6 ,no more is wanted save a harp under his arm and a slashed doublet on his body2 just as in picturing the most tragical scenes of the ,passion--the ,ecce ,homo1 or the ,crucifixion--he thinks it enough to surround his ,christ with the ,jew peddlers or the home-keeping citizens of his native town1 without altering in any way their appearance or their dress4 ,what could be more contrary to the traditions of ,italian art and the principles which have governed it1 from ,giotto down to ,raphael8 ,what less unusual in the history of ,dutch art8 ,later on ,rembrandt himself was to work in the same way2 but with what mighty powers of invention6 ,what a startling expression of the inner meaning1 the philosophy of a subject1 is united in his fashion of treatment with the realistic ideals of the national genius6 ,in truth1 it is not merely the peculiar characteristic of an individual--the indifference to1 or aversion from1 conventional beauty of form which is apparent in this great master1 so far-reaching in moral vision1 so pre-eminently sagacious and profound among painters of the soul2 it sums up and reveals the innate disposition and sthetic temperament of a whole race4 ,in his brief career ,lucas van ,leyden had the happiness to see his efforts rewarded and his credit universally established1 and of this authority and influence he ever made the noblest use4 ,looked upon as a leader by the painters of his country2 in friendly relations with the ,german engravers1 who1 like ,albert ,drer1 sent him their works1 or came themselves to ask advice2 possessing greater wealth than usually fell to the share of the artists of his time2 he never employed his riches or his influence except in the interest of art1 or of the men who practised it4 ,he refused no solicitant of merit1 however slight4 ,the worthy master was careful to disguise his aid under pretext of some advantage to himself3 he was always requiring drawings of some building or some artistic object1 and thus he spared the self-respect of the person whom he wished to help1 and whom he entrusted with the commission4 ,more than once he went journeying through the ,low ,countries to visit engravers and painters far inferior to himself1 whom he yet modestly called his rivals4 ,he complimented them with words of praise and encouragement2 gave entertainments in their honour2 and did not leave them without exchanging his works for theirs1 which were thus paid for a hundred times over4 ,it was in one of these journeys1 that to ,flushing1 that ,lucas van ,leyden was attacked with the disease which was destined to carry him to the grave4 ,some people have attributed to poison the suddenness of the attack2 but of this there is no proof4 ,once back in his native town1 he lingered on some time1 worn out and sinking1 yet refusing to condemn himself to idleness4 ,too feeble to rise1 he yet continued to draw and engrave in bed1 remaining faithful till the end to the noble passion of his life1 to the art he had dignified1 and to that nature which he had questioned more closely1 and1 in certain respects1 perhaps better understood than any of his predecessors4 ,it is said that a few hours before his death he desired to be taken up to a terrace of his house1 that he might once more admire the setting sun2 and there1 absorbed in silent contemplation1 surrounded by friends and pupils1 he for the last time gazed on the place of his birth1 and on that heaven from which the light was fading1 even as life was ebbing from his bosom4 ,it was a proper conclusion to so pure a life--to one1 indeed1 of the most irreproachable careers in the history of art4 ,lucas van ,leyden died at thirty-eight1 an age fatal to more than one great artist1 and which was scarcely attained by three men with whom he seems linked by a similarity of genius1 at least as regards early fertility and sincerity of inspiration3 ,raphael1 ,lesueur1 and ,mozart4 ,the impetus given by ,lucas van ,leyden to the art of engraving was seconded1 even during his life1 by several ,dutch artists who imitated his method more or less successfully4 ,amongst others1 ,alart ,claessen1 an anonymous engraver called the ,matre l'crevisse1 and ,dirck ,star1 or ,van ,staren1 generally called the ,matre l'toile4 ,the movement did not slacken after the death of the leader of the school4 ,the engravers of the ,low ,countries1 accentuating more and more the qualities aimed at from the beginning1 soon surpassed their ,german rivals1 and seemed alone to be gifted with the knack of dealing with light4 ,cornelius ,cort1 who engraved several of ,titian's works in ,venice in the great painter's studio1 and the pupils he educated on his return to ,holland1 began to exhibit a boldness of touch not to be so clearly discovered in their predecessors2 but this progress1 real in some respects1 was not accomplished without injury to truthful study and the exact interpretation of form1 and certainly not without a deplorable exaggeration in the use of means4 ,the workmanship of ,hendrik ,goltzius1 for instance1 and still more that of his pupil1 ,jan ,mller1 is strained and feeble owing to their affectation of ease4 ,the constant use of bent and parallel lines unreasonably prolonged imparts to the plates of these two engravers an appearance at once dull and florid2 they present something of the same aspect as those caligraphical specimens of the present day1 in which the faces of ,henri ,,iv4 or of ,napoleon are drawn entirely with the curves of a single stroke4 ,still1 in spite of this extremely affected workmanship1 the prints of ,goltzius1 of ,mller1 and even of ,saenredam1 are characterised by a comparative intensity of tone1 as well as by singular skill in cutting the copper4 ,this abuse of method1 however1 had not yet become general in the schools of the ,low ,countries4 ,side by side with the intemperate or daring craftsmen we have mentioned1 there were certain ,flemish and ,dutch engravers who imparted to their work a delicacy and a reticence of expression better suited to the traditions and the models bequeathed by ,lucas van ,leyden4 ,these were ,nicolas van ,bruyn at ,antwerp1 the brothers ,wierix at ,amsterdam1 and some few others1 all of them disciples more or less faithful to the old teaching1 and apparently more or less hostile to the effort at emancipation going on around them4 ,when1 however1 ,rubens took the reins1 individual resistance and impulse ceased1 and all controversy was at an end4 ,principles1 method1 and aim became the same for every one4 ,both ,dutch and ,flemish engravers openly set themselves to represent with the graver the infinite gradations of a painted canvas1 the delicacy and the daring1 the nicest punctilio and the most summary smearing1 of the painter's brush4 ,never was the influence of a painter on engraving so direct or so potent as that of ,rubens4 ,the great master had shown by his drawings that it was possible to be as rich a colourist with black and white alone as with all the resources of the palette4 ,he made choice amongst his pupils of those whom he believed to be capable of following his example in this matter2 he obliged them to lay aside the brush1 almost ordered them to become engravers1 and so penetrated them with the secret of his method1 that he seems to have animated them with his own inspiration4 ,he assembled them in the vast house which he had built at ,antwerp1 and which he turned into a college of artists of all sorts4 ,he made them sometimes labour beneath his eye2 he carefully corrected their work2#bh and in this way he taught them that comprehension of effect which was specially his1 and his own incomparable knowledge of the right tones with which to lay in1 or to support1 a mass of light or shadow4 ,to recall the success of these efforts is to recall the names of ,vorsterman1 ,bolswert1 ,paul ,pontius1 and ,soutman3 men boldly scientific in their art1 who1 at the first rush1 carried to perfection that style of engraving which renders before all the relative richness and varied value of tones in a picture1 and whose effects are identical in some sort with those of the painting itself4 ,it is obvious that1 in spite of its prodigious merits1 this painting is not of so elevated a nature as that of ,leonardo da ,vinci or ,raphael2 but is it therefore less true that it is completely summed up1 and its living image reflected1 in contemporary engraving8 ,actuated by an idea of colour and effect analogous to that of ,marc ,antonio with regard to drawing1 the ,flemish engravers resolutely subordinated accessories to the importance and splendour of essentials2 and in this way they succeeded in dissembling1 by means of the breadth of the whole1 the execution of details and even the laboriousness of the process4 ,it would seem from the sparkling look and brilliant handiwork of these plates1 that the engravers had thrown them off in a few hours of inspiration1 so completely does their dash banish all idea of the time spent upon them1 all sense of patience and toil4 ,and yet these lights and shades1 the sweep of the flesh1 the sheen and shimmer of the fabrics1 are all the result of lines laboriously ploughed2 perhaps a thousand strokes have been needed to imitate an effect due to a single glaze1 or given by two touches of the brush4 ,the engravings of the ,flemish school in ,rubens' time are still widely distributed4 ,there are few people who have not had the opportunity of admiring the ,thomiris1 the ,st4 ,roch ,praying for the ,plague-,stricken1 or the ,portrait of ,rubens1 by ,pontius2 the ,descent from the ,cross1 by ,vorsterman2 the ,fall of the ,damned1 by ,soutman2 and a hundred other pieces as beautiful1 all engraved from the master by his pupils4 ,and who does not know that marvellous masterpiece1 the ,crown of ,thorns1 engraved by ,bolswert from ,van ,dyck8 and those other masterpieces of ,van ,dyck himself--the etched portraits of artists or amateurs1 the painter's friends1 from the two ,breughels to ,cornelis1 from ,franz ,snyders to ,philip ,le ,roy8 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #eg4--,,van ,,dyck4 ,etched by ,himself4 ,the progress1 however1 by which the ,flemish school of engraving had distinguished itself1 soon had an equivalent in the movement of reform in ,holland4 ,towards the end of the sixteenth century1 and on from the beginning of the seventeenth1 the ,dutch engravers1 by dint of insisting too strongly on the innovations of ,lucas van ,leyden1 had almost succeeded in causing scientific ease of handling to degenerate into mere trickery1 and spirit of design into inflation and turbulence4 ,amongst the first1 and with greater authority than any1 ,cornelius ,visscher set himself to stay the art of line engraving on its downward course4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #eh4--;,,cornelius ,,visscher4 ,the ,seller of ,ratsbane4 ,most of the scenes represented by ,visscher are assuredly not of a nature greatly to interest the imagination1 still less to touch the heart4 ,it would be somewhat difficult to be moved to any philosophical or poetic thought by the contemplation of such work as the ,frying-,pan1 or the ,seller of ,ratsbane2 but these1 though the ideas by which they are suggested are trivial or commonplace1 are treated with a deep feeling for truth1 with admirable craftsmanship1 and with an amount of sincerity and boldness which makes up for the absence of beauty1 whether in thought or type4 ,considered only from the point of view of execution1 the plates of ,visscher are masterpieces2 are such marvels1 indeed1 that they cannot be too carefully studied by all engravers1 whatever the style of their work4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ei4--;,,cornelius ,,visscher4 ,giles ,boutma4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #fj4--,,paul ,,potter4 ,the ,cow4 ,the same may be said in another order of art for those fine portraits--of ,boccaccio1 of ,pietro ,aretino1 and of ,giorgione--engraved by ,cornelius ,van ,dalen1 the best of ,visscher's pupils4 ,it is also on the same ground1 that1 in spite of most notable differences in handling1 the plates engraved by ,jonas ,suyderhoef1 after ,terburg and ,theodore de ,keyse1 command the attention of artists and amateurs4 ,finally1 side by side with these works1 in the execution of which etching was only resorted to as a preparatory process1 or sometimes was not even used at all1 a number of subjects entirely engraved with the needle--etchings1 to speak strictly--make up a whole which is the more creditable to the ,dutch school1 inasmuch as it would be impossible at any time to find the like in the schools of other countries4 ,french engraving had doubtless reason to be proud of the masterpieces of ,claude ,lorraine1 or the clever and witty etchings of ,callot and ,israel ,silvestre4 ,in ,italy after ,parmigiano1 ,agostino ,carracci1 and certain other contemporary ,bolognese1 in ,spain1 ,ribera1 and afterwards ,goya1 acquired a legitimate renown as etchers4 ,but whatever may be the merit of their individual work1 these artists are unconnected in either of their native countries with any group wholly devoted to work of the same kind3 with any artistic family of common origin1 inclination1 and belief4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #fa4--;,j4 ,,ruysdael4 ,the ,little ,cornfield4 ,now the skilful ,dutch etchers do not come singly1 nor at long intervals4 ,they work in a body4 ,it is within a few years1 in fact almost simultaneously1 that ,adrian ,brauwer and ,adrian van ,ostade publish their tavern scenes2 ,ruysdael and ,jan ,both their landscapes2 ,paul ,potter and ,berghem1 ,adrian van de ,velde1 ,marc de ,bye1 ,karel du ,jardin1 such a multitude of charming little subjects1 their village scenes and village people1 their flocks in the fields1 or their single animals4 ,whilst emulating each other's talent1 all are agreed to pursue one and the same object1 all are agreed as to the necessity of devotion to the study of surrounding nature and everyday truth4 ,although the ,dutch etchers display in the totality of their achievement the same ideal and the same tendency1 each keeps1 if only in the matter of workmanship1 a certain distinction and character of his own4 ,one1 however1 stands out from the group with matchless splendour1 with all the superiority of genius over talent3 that one is ,rembrandt4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #fb4--,,rembrandt4 ,portrait of ,himself3 ,rembrandt ,appuye4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #fc4--,,rembrandt4 ,faust4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #fd4--,,rembrandt4 ,joseph's ,coat brought to ,jacob4 ,pains and patience have been wasted on the secret of ,rembrandt's method of etching and printing2 in trying to discover his tools and his manner of using them1 so as to achieve with him those contrasts of soft shadow and radiant light4 ,vain quest of technical tricks where1 really1 there is no more than a style born of imagination1 and1 like it1 inspired from above6 ,it may be said that with ,rembrandt1 as with great musical composers1 the harmonic system is so closely allied to the melodic idea1 that analysis1 if not impossible1 is at least superfluous4 ,it sometimes happens--before a ,correggio1 for instance--that the charm of the painting affects one in a manner abstract enough to produce a sort of musical sensation4 ,though it does not appear that the art of engraving could be endowed with a similar expansive force1 yet ,rembrandt's etchings may almost be said to possess it4 ,they give the feeling of undefined aspirations rather than the limited likeness of things2 the spectator is touched by the mysterious meaning of these passionate visions1 rather than by the form in which they are conveyed4 ,the impression received is so keen that it stifles any trivial wish to criticise1 and certain details which would be painful elsewhere are here not even displeasing1 inasmuch as no one would dream of requiring a mathematical explanation of the special conditions of the subject1 or of the skill of workmanship which the artist has displayed ,before the ,sacrifice of ,abraham1 the ,tobit1 the ,lazarus1 and all the other soul-speaking masterpieces1 who would pause to consider the strangeness or the vulgarity of the personages and their apparel8 ,only the critic1 who1 unwitting of the rest1 would begin by examining with a magnifying glass the workmanship of the ray of light which illumines the ,hundred ,guilder ,piece1 the ,annunciation1 or the ,pilgrimage to ,emmaus4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #fe4--,,rembrandt4 ,tobit's ,blindness4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ff4--,,rembrandt4 ,jan ,lutma4 ,rembrandt's method is1 so to speak1 supersensuous4 ,at times he lightly touches his plate1 and at times he attacks as at a venture2 at others he skims the surface and caresses it with an exquisite refinement1 a magical dexterity4 ,in his lights he breaks the line of the contour1 but only to resume and boldly accentuate it in his shadows2 or he reverses the method1 and in the one1 as in the other case1 succeeds infallibly in fixing1 satisfying1 and convincing the attention4 ,he uses engraver's tools and methods as ,bossuet uses words1 subduing them to the needs of his thought1 and constraining them to express it1 careless of fine finish as of trivial subtlety4 ,like ,bossuet1 too1 he composes out of the most incongruous elements1 out of the trivial and the lofty1 the commonplace and the heroic1 a style invariably eloquent2 and from the mingling of these heterogeneous elements there springs an admirable harmony of result4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #fg4--,,rembrandt4 ,the ,beggars4 ,the ,flemish engravers formed by ,rubens1 and their ,dutch contemporaries1 had no worthy successors4 ,the revolution they accomplished in the art was brief1 and did not extend beyond the ,low ,countries4 ,in ,italy1 ,dutch and ,flemish engravings were naturally despised4 ,it is said--and it is easy to believe--that those accustomed to commune with ,raphael and ,marc ,antonio esteemed them fitting decorations for the walls of pothouses4 ,in ,france and ,germany1 where ,italian ideas in art had reigned since the sixteenth century1 they experienced at first no better reception4 ,when at length the consideration they really deserved was accorded them1 the superiority of ,france was established1 and her engravers could no longer be expected to descend to imitation4 ,the movement in the schools of the ,low ,countries1 before the second half of the seventeenth century1 is thus1 to speak truth1 a mere episode in the history of the art1 and its masterpieces had no lasting influence on engraving in general4 ,for it to have been otherwise1 the engravers of other countries must have renounced1 not only the national traditions1 but even the models they had at hand4 ,the method of ,bolswert or of ,pontius could only be usefully employed to reproduce the works of ,rubens and ,van ,dyck4 ,the handling of ,visscher and of ,suyderhoef was only suitable to such pictures as were painted in ,amsterdam and ,leyden4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #fh4--,,rembrandt4 ,the ,pancake-maker4 ,and meanwhile1 when the schools of the ,low ,countries were shining with a lustre so brilliant and so transitory1 what was doing in ,france8 and how in ,france was the great age of engraving inaugurated8 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,beginning ,,of ,,line ,,engraving ,,and ,,etching ,,in ,,france ,,and ,,england4 ,,first ,,attempts ,,at ,,mezzotint4 ,a ,,glance ,,at ,,engraving ,,in ,,europe ,,before #affj4 ,the ,french were unable to distinguish themselves early in the art of engraving1 as the conditions under which they laboured were different from those which obtained in ,italy1 ,germany1 and the ,low ,countries3 the homes1 all three of them1 of schools of painting4 ,from the thirteenth century onwards1 the architects and sculptors of ,france had produced an unbroken succession of good things2 but the origin of her school of painting is not nearly so remote1 nor has it such sustained importance4 ,save for the unknown glass-painters of her cathedrals1 for the miniaturists who preceded and succeeded ,jean ,fouquet1 and for the artists in chalks whose work is touched with so peculiar a charm and so delicate an originality1 she can boast of no great painter before ,jean ,cousin4 ,and the art of engraving could scarcely have flourished when1 as yet1 the art of painting had scarcely existed4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #fi4--,,noel ,,garnier4 ,grotesques4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #gj4--;,,jean ,,duvet4 ,the ,power of ,royalty4 ,wood-cutting1 it is true1 was practised in ,france with a certain success1 as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century1 and even a little before that4 ,the ,danses macabres--those aids to morality so popular in medival times--the illustrated ,books of ,hours1 and other compilations besides1 printed with figures and tail-pieces1 in ,lyons or ,paris1 give earnest of the unborn masterpieces of ,geofroy ,tory1 of ,jean ,cousin himself1 and of sundry other draughtsmen and wood-cutters of the reigns of ,franois ,i4 and ,henri ,,ii4 ,but1 as practised by goldsmiths1 such as ,jean ,duvet and tienne ,delaune1 and by painters of the ,fontainebleau school like ,ren ,boyvin and ,geofroy ,dumonstier1 line engraving and etching were still no more than a means of popularising extravagant imitations of ,italian work4 ,the prints of ,nicolas ,beatrizet1 who had been the pupil of ,agostino ,musi at ,rome1 and those of another engraver of ,lorraine1 whose name has been ,italianised into ,niccol della ,casa1 appear to have been produced with the one object of deifying the spirit of sham1 and converting ,french engravers to that religion to which ,french painters had apostatised with so much ill-fortune under the influence of the ,italians brought in by ,francis ,i4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ga4--,,tienne ,,delaune4 ,adam and ,eve driven from ,paradise4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #gb4--,,tienne ,,delaune4 ,mirror4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #gc4--;,,androuet ,,du ,,cerceau4 ,ornamented ,vase4 ,during the whole of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries the ,french school of engraving had neither method nor bent of its own2 but meanwhile it was a whim of fashion that every one should handle the burin or the point4 ,from the days of ,henri ,,ii4 to those of ,louis ,,xiii41 craftsman or layman1 everybody practised engraving4 ,there were goldsmiths like ,pierre ,woeiriot1 painters like ,claude ,corneille and ,jean de ,gourmont1 architects like ,androuet du ,cerceau2 there were noblemen2 there were even ladies--as1 for instance1 ,georgette de ,montenay1 who dedicated to ,jeanne d',albret a collection of mottoes and emblems1 partly1 it was said1 of her own engraving4 ,all the world and his wife1 in fact1 were gouging wood and scraping copper4 ,it must be repeated that the prints of this time are for the most part borrowed--are copies feeble or stilted1 or both1 of foreign originals4 ,not until after some years of thraldom could the ,french engravers shake off the yoke of ,italian art1 create a special style1 and constitute themselves a school4 ,the revolution was prepared by ,thomas de ,leu and ,lonard ,gaultier1 engravers of portraits and of historical subjects2 but the hero of the ,french school is ,jacques ,callot4 ,there are certain names in the history of the arts which retain an eternal odour of popularity2 we remember them as those of men of talent1 who were also in some sort heroes of romance1 and our interest remains perennial4 ,jacques ,callot is one of these4 ,he is probably the only ,french engraver#bi whose name is yet familiar to the general public4 ,that this is so is hardly the effect of his work1 however excellent3 it is rather the result of his adventures2 of his flight from home in childhood2 his wanderings with the gipsies2 and the luck he had--his good looks aiding--with the ladies of ,rome1 and even 7it is whispered7 with the wife of ,thomassin his master4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #gd4--,,thomas ,,de ,,leu4 ,henri ,,iv4 ,we have said it is ,callot's merit to have lifted the ,french school of engraving out of the rut in which it dragged1 and to have opened for it a new path4 ,he did not1 however1 accomplish the work with an entire independence1 nor without some leanings towards that ,italy in which he had been trained4 ,after working in ,florence under ,canta-,gallina1 whose freedom of style and fantastic taste could not but prove irresistible to the future artist of ,franca ,trippa and ,fritellino1 he had been obliged to return to ,nancy4 ,thence he escaped a second time1 and thither was a second time brought back by his eldest brother1 who had been despatched in pursuit4 ,a third journey took him to ,rome2 and there1 whether glad to be rid of him or weary of debate1 his family let him remain4 ,it is probable that during his expatriation1#cj ,callot never so much as dreamed of learning from the ,old ,masters2 but he did not fail to make a close study of certain contemporaries who were masters so called4 ,paul ,v4 was ,pope2 and the age of ,raphael and ,marc ,antonio1 of ,julius ,,ii4 and ,leo ,x41 was for ever at an end4 ,the enfeebling eclecticism of the ,carracci1 and the profitless fecundity of ,guido1 had given currency to all sorts of second-rate qualities1 and in painting had substituted prettiness for beauty4 ,the result was an invasion of frivolity1 alike in manners and beliefs1 which was destined to find its least dubious expression in the works of ,le ,jospin1 and later on in those of an artist of kindred tastes with the ,lorraine engraver--the fantastical ,salvator ,rosa4 ,when ,callot settled in ,rome in #afji1 ,le ,jospin had already reached the climax of fame and fortune2 ,salvator1 at an interval of nearly thirty years1 was on the heels of his first success4 ,coming1 as he did1 to take a place among the dexterous and the eccentric1 it seems that ,callot could not have chosen a better time4 ,it was not long before he attracted attention2 for when he left ,rome for ,florence1 where he produced some of his liveliest work1 his name and his capacity were already in repute4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ge4--;,,callot4 ,from the ,set entitled ,balli di ,sfessania4 ,at ,florence his capacity was perfected under the influence of ,giulio ,parigi2 and1 thanks to the favour of ,duke ,cosmo ,,ii41 which he easily obtained1 his name soon became famous in the world of fashion as among connoisseurs4 ,unlike his countrymen1 ,claude ,lorraine and the noble ,poussin1 who1 some years later1 were in this same ,italy to live laborious and thoughtful lives1 ,callot freely followed his peculiar vein1 and saw in art no more than a means of amusement1 in the people about him only subjects for caricature1 and in imaginative and even religious subjects but a pretext for grotesque invention4 ,like another ,french satirist1 ,mathurin ,regnier1 who had preceded him in ,rome1 he was addicted to vulgar types1 to rags and deformities1 even to the stigmata of debauchery4 ,thus1 the works of both these two men1 whom we may compare together1 too often breathe a most dishonourable atmosphere of vice4 ,with a frankness which goes the length of impudence1 they give full play to their taste for degradation and vile reality2 and yet their vigour of expression does not always degenerate into cynicism1 nor is the truth of their pictures always shameless4 ,the fact is1 both had the secret of saying exactly enough to express their thoughts1 even when these were bred by the most capricious fancy4 ,they may be reproached with not caring to raise the standard of their work2 but it is impossible to deny them the merit of having painted ugliness of every kind firmly and with elegant precision1 nor that of having given1 each in his own language1 a definite and truly national form to that art of satire which had been hardly so much as rough-hewn in the caricatures and pamphlets of the ,league4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #gf4--;,j4 ,,callot4 ,from the ,set entitled ,les ,gentilshommes4 ,etching1 but little practised in ,germany after the death of ,drer1 had found scarcely greater favour in ,italy4 ,as to the ,dutch ,little ,masters1 spoken of in the preceding chapters1 the time was not yet come for most of their charming works4 ,claude ,lorraine's etchings1 now so justly celebrated1 were themselves of later date than ,callot's4 ,the latter was1 therefore1 the real author of this class of work4 ,in his hand the needle acquired a lightness and boldness not presaged in previous essays1 which were at once coarse and careless4 ,in his suggestions of life in motion1 he imitated the swift and lively gait of the pencil1 whilst his contours are touched with the severity of the pen1 if not of the burin itself4 ,in a word1 he gave his plates an appearance of accuracy without destroying that look of improvisation which is so necessary to work of the kind2 in this way he decided the nature and special conditions of etching4 ,it was owing to his influence that ,french art first attracted the attention of the ,italians3 ,stefano della ,bella1 ,cantarini and even ,canta-,gallina 7who did not disdain to copy the etchings of his old pupil71 ,castiglione the ,genoese1 and many others1 essayed1 with more or less success1 to appropriate the style of the master of ,nancy2 and when he returned to establish himself in ,france1 where his reputation had preceded him1 he found admirers1 and before long a still greater following of imitators4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #gg4--;,j4 ,,callot4 ,from the ,set entitled ,les ,gueux4 ,he was presented to ,louis ,,xiii41 who at once commissioned him to engrave the ,siege of ,la ,rochelle1 and received at ,court with remarkable favour1 which was1 however1 withdrawn some years later1 when he was bold enough to oppose the will of ,richelieu4 ,after the taking of ,nancy 7#afcc7 from the ,duke of ,lorraine1 ,callot's sovereign1 the great ,cardinal1 to immortalise the event1 ordered the engraver to make it the subject of a companion print to that of the ,siege of ,la ,rochelle1 which he had just finished2 but he was revolted by the idea of using his talents for the humiliation of his prince1 and replied to ,richelieu's messenger1 that he would rather cut off his thumb than obey4 ,the reply was not of a kind to maintain him in the good graces of the ,cardinal1 and ,callot felt it4 ,he took leave of the king1 and soon after retired to his native town1 where he died at the age of forty-three4 ,really introduced into ,france by ,callot1 etching had become the fashion there4 ,abraham ,bosse and ,israel ,silvestre helped to popularise it1 the latter by applying it to topography and architecture1 the former by using it for the illustration of religious and scientific books1 and the embellishment of the fans and other elegant knick-knacks then selling in that ,galerie ,dauphine du ,palays which is figured in one of his prints1 and from which a play of ,corneille's derives its name4 ,he published besides an infinite number of subjects of all sorts3 domestic scenes1 portraits1 costumes1 architectural ornaments1 almost always engraved from his own designs1 and sometimes from those of the ,norman painter1 ,saint-,ygny4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #gh4--;,,claude ,,lorraine4 ,le ,bouvier4 ,abraham ,bosse is doubtless a second-rate man1 but he is far from having no merit at all4 ,he is an intelligent1 if not a very delicate observer1 who knows how to impart to his figures and to the general aspect of a scene an appearance of reality which is not altogether the truth1 but which comes very near to having its charm4 ,he certainly possesses the instinct of correct drawing1 in default of refined taste and feeling2 and finally1 to take him simply as an engraver1 he has much of the bold and firm handling of ,callot1 with something already of that cheerful and thoroughly ,french cleverness which was destined to be more and more developed in the national school of engraving1 and to reach perfection in the second half of the seventeenth century4 ,to ,abraham ,bosse are owing decided improvements in the construction of printing-presses1 the composition of varnishes1 and all the practical parts of the art2 to him some technical studies are also due1 the most interesting of which1 the ,trait des ,manires de ,graver sur l',airain par le ,moyen des ,eaux-fortes1 is1 if not the first1 at least one of the first books on engraving published in ,france4 ,we may add that the works of ,abraham ,bosse1 like those of all other etchers of his time1 show a continual tendency to imitate with the needle the work of the graver3 a tendency worth remarking1 though blamable in some respects1 as its result is to deprive each class of work of its peculiar character1 and from etching in particular to remove its appearance of freedom and ease4 ,we have reached the moment when the ,french school of engraving entered the path of progress1 no more to depart from it1 and when1 after having followed in the rear of foreign engravers1 the ,french masters at length began to make up with and almost to outdistance them4 ,before proceeding1 we must glance at the movement of those schools whose beginnings we have already traced4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #gi4--;,,claude ,,lorraine4 ,le ,chevrier4 ,the line of really great ,italian painters went out with the sixteenth century4 ,domenichino1 indeed1 ,annibale ,carracci1 and a few others1 glorified the century that followed2 but their works1 although full of sentiment1 skill1 and ability1 are quite as much affected by the pernicious eclecticism of the period and by the general decline in taste4 ,after them all the arts declined4 ,sculpture and architecture became more and more degraded under the influence of ,bernini and ,borromini4 ,athirst for novelty of any kind1 people had gradually come to think the most extravagant fancies clever4 ,to bring the straight line into greater disrepute1 statues and bas-reliefs were tortured as by a hurricane2 attitudes1 draperies1 and even immovable accessories were all perturbed and wavering4 ,the engravers were no better than the painters1 sculptors1 and architects4 ,by dint of exaggerating the idealistic creed1 they had fallen into mere insanity2 and in the midst of this degradation of art1 they aimed at nothing save excitement and novelty1 so that their invention was only shown in irregular or overlengthy lines1 and their impetuosity in bad drawing4 ,daily wandering further from the paths of the masters1 the ,italian engravers at last attained1 through the abuse of method1 a complete oblivion of the essential conditions of their art2 so that with few exceptions1 till the end of the eighteenth century1 nothing is to be found save barren sleight-of-hand in the works of that very school1 which1 in the days of ,marc ,antonio and his pupils1 had been universally triumphant4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #hj4--;,,abraham ,,bosse4 ,from the ,set entitled ,le ,jardin de la ,noblesse ,franaise4 ,after the ,little ,masters1 inheritors of some of the genius1 skill1 and renown of ,albert ,drer1 ,germany had given birth to a fair number of clever engravers1 the majority of whom had left their country4 ,some of them1 indistinguishable to-day from the second generation of ,marc ,antonio's disciples1 had1 as we said1 abandoned the national style for the ,italian2 others had settled in ,france or in the ,low ,countries4 ,the ,thirty ,years' ,war accomplished the ruin of ,german art1 which before long was represented only in ,frankfort1 where ,matthew ,mrian of ,basle1 and his pupils1 with certain engravers from neighbouring countries1 had taken refuge4 ,whilst engraving was declining in ,italy and ,germany1 the ,english school was springing into being4 ,though at first of small importance1 the beginnings and early essays of the school are such as may hardly pass without remark4 ,for some time ,england had seemed to take little part in the progress of the fine arts in ,europe1 except commercially1 or as the hostess of many famous artists1 from ,holbein to ,van ,dyck4 ,there were a certain number of picture-dealers and print-sellers in ,london1 but under ,charles ,i4 her only painters and engravers of merit were foreigners4#ca ,the famous portrait painter1 ,sir ,peter ,lely1 whom the ,english are proud to own1 was a ,german1 as was ,kneller1 who inherited his reputation1 and1 as was ,hollar1 an engraver of unrivalled talent4#cb ,and while a few pupils of this last artist were doing their best to imitate his example1 the taste for line engraving and etching1 which processes were being slowly and painfully popularised by their efforts1 was suddenly changed into a passion for another method1 in which the principal success of the ,english school has since been won4 ,prince ,rupert1 so renowned for his courage and his romantic adventures1 had the fortunate chance to introduce to ,london the process of engraving which is called mezzotint4 ,in spite1 however1 of what has been alleged1 the honour of the invention is not his4 ,ludwig von ,siegen1 a lieutenant-colonel in the service of the ,landgrave of ,hesse-,cassel1 had certainly discovered mezzotint before the end of #afdb1 for in the course of that year he published a print in this style--the portrait of the ,princess ,amelia ,elizabeth of ,hesse--the very first ever given to the public4 ,von ,siegen for awhile refused to divulge his secret4 ,there is not1 he wrote to the ,landgrave of ,hesse concerning this same portrait1 a single engraver1 nor a single artist1 who knows how this work was done4 ,and1 indeed1 no one succeeded in finding out1 and it was only after a silence of twelve years that ,von ,siegen consented to reveal his mystery4 ,prince ,rupert1 then at ,brussels1 was the first initiated4 ,he1 in his turn1 chose for confidant the painter ,wallerant ,vaillant1 who apparently did not think himself bound to strict silence1 for1 soon afterwards1 a number of ,flemish engravers attempted the process4 ,once made public1 no one troubled about the man who had invented it4 ,he was1 in fact1 so quickly and completely forgotten1 that even in #afef ,von ,siegen was obliged to claim the title1 which no one any longer dreamed of giving him1 and to sign his works3 ,von ,siegen1 the first and true inventor of this kind of engraving4 ,it was still worse in ,london when the plates engraved by ,prince ,rupert were exhibited1 and when the ,english artists had learnt how they could produce the like4 ,they set themselves to work without looking out for any other models1 and were much more taken up with their own results than the history of the discovery1 the whole honour of which was attributed to ,rupert1 the man who in reality had only made it public4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ha4--,,prince ,,rupert4 ,head of a ,young ,man 7engraved in ,mezzotint74 ,the talent of ,rupert's first imitators1 like that of the originator himself1 did not rise above mediocrity4 ,amongst their direct successors1 and the successors of these1 there are few of much account2 but in the eighteenth century1 when ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds undertook1 like ,rubens at ,antwerp1 to himself direct the work of engraving1 the number of good ,english mezzotint engravers became considerable4 ,earlom1 ,ardell1 ,smith1 ,dickinson1 ,green1 ,watson1 and many others deserving of mention1 greatly increased the resources of the process1 by applying it to the reproduction of the master's works4 ,mezzotint1 at first reserved for portraits1 was used for subjects of every sort3 flower pieces1 genre1 even history2 and step by step it attained to practical perfection1 of which1 at the beginning of the present century1 the ,english still had the monopoly4 ,the methods of mezzotint differ completely from those of line engraving and etching4 ,with the graver and the needle the shadows and half-tones are made out on copper by means of incised lines and touches2 with the mezzotint tool1 on the contrary1 the lights are produced by scraping1 the shadows by leaving intact the corresponding portions of the plate4 ,instead of offering a flat1 smooth surface1 like the plates in line engraving1 a mezzotint copper must be first grained by a steel tool 7called the rocker71 shaped like a chisel1 with a semicircular blade which is bevelled and toothed4 ,sometimes 7and this is generally the case in the present day7 the rocking of the surface1 on which the engraver is to work1 is produced1 not by a tool1 but by a special machine4 ,when the drawing has been traced in the usual way on the prepared plate1 the grain produced by the rocker is rubbed down with the burnisher wherever pure white or light tints are required4 ,the parts that are not flattened by the burnisher print as darks2 and these darks are all the deeper and more velvety as they result from the grain itself--that is to say1 from a general preparation specially adapted to catch the ink--and are by no means composed1 as in line engraving1 of furrows more or less crowded or cross-hatched4 ,mezzotint engraving has1 in this respect1 the advantage of other processes2 in all others it is decidedly inferior4 ,the rough grain produced on a plate by the rocker1 and the mere scraping by which it is obliterated or modified1 are technical hindrances to decided drawing3 only with graver or point is it possible to make outlines of perfect accuracy4 ,again1 precision1 delicacy of modelling1 and perfect finish in detail are impossible to the scraper4 ,mezzotint1 in fine1 is suitable for the translation of pictures where the light is scarce and concentrated1 but is powerless to render work quiet in aspect and smooth in effect4 ,english engravers1 then1 had begun to rank as artists4 ,callot1 and1 after him1 other ,french engravers already remarkably skilful1 had succeeded in founding a school which was soon to be honoured by the presence of true masters2 ,italy and ,germany were deteriorating steadily4 ,meanwhile1 what was going on elsewhere8 ,in ,spain there was a brilliant galaxy of painters1 some of whom1 like ,ribera1 have left etchings2 but there were few or no professional engravers4 ,in ,switzerland1 ,jost ,amman of ,zurich 7#aeci-aeia7 was succeeded by a certain number of illustrator-engravers1 heirs of his superficial cleverness and of his commercial rather than artistic ideas3 engravers1 by the way1 who are commonly confounded with the ,german masters of the same epoch4 ,lastly1 the few ,swedes or ,poles who studied art1 whether in ,flanders or ,germany1 never succeeded in popularising the taste for it in their own countries2 only for form's sake need they be mentioned4 ,the first of the two great phases of the history of engraving ends about the middle of the seventeenth century4 ,we have seen that the influence of ,marc ,antonio1 though combated at first by the influence of ,albert ,drer1 easily conquered1 and prevailed without a rival in ,italy1 ,germany1 and even ,france1 until the appearance of ,callot and his contemporaries4 ,meanwhile1 in the ,low ,countries the art presented a physiognomy of its own1 developed slowly1 and ended by undergoing a thorough1 but brief1 transformation under the authority of ,rubens4 ,the ,flemish school was soon to be absorbed in that of ,france1 and the second period1 which may be termed the ,french1 to begin in the history of engraving4 ,were it permissible1 on the authority of examples given elsewhere1 to compare a multitude of men separated by differences of epoch and endowment1 we might arrange the old engravers in the order adopted for a group of much greater artists by the painters of the ,apotheosis of ,homer and the ,hemicycle of the ,palais des ,beaux-,arts4 ,let us regard them in our mind's eye as a master might figure them4 ,in the centre is ,finiguerra1 the father of the race2 next to him1 on the one side1 are the ,master of #adff1 ,martin ,schongauer1 and ,albert ,drer2 on the other1 ,mantegna and ,marc ,antonio1 surrounded1 like the three ,german masters1 by their disciples1 amongst whom they maintain an attitude of command4 ,between the two groups1 but rather on the ,german side1 is ,lucas van ,leyden1 first in place1 as by right1 among the ,dutchmen4 ,below these early masters1 who wear upon their brows that expression of severity which distinguishes their work1 comes the excited crowd of daring innovators1 whose merit is in the spirit of their style--,bolswert1 ,vorsterman1 ,pontius1 ,cornelius ,visscher1 ,van ,dalen1 and their rivals4 ,rembrandt muses apart1 sombre1 and as though shrouded in mystery4 ,lastly1 in the middle distance1 are seen the merely clever engravers3 the ,dutch ,little ,masters1 ,callot1 ,hollar1 and ,israel ,silvestre4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we must abandon this realm of fancy for the regions of fact1 we might sum up the results of past progress by instancing a few prints of perfect beauty4 ,our own selection would be ,mantegna's ,entombment2 ,marc ,antonio's ,massacre of the ,innocents2 the ,death of the ,virgin1 by ,martin ,schongauer2 ,drer's ,melancholia2 the ,calvary of ,lucas van ,leyden2 ,rembrandt's ,christ ,healing the ,sick2 ,bolswert's ,crown of ,thorns2 the ,portrait of ,rubens1 by ,paul ,pontius1 or the ,gellius de ,bouma of ,cornelius ,visscher2 and finally1 ,callot's ,florentine ,fair1 or ,garden at ,nancy1 and the ,bouvier1 or1 better still1 the ,soleil ,levant of ,claude ,lorraine4 ,happy the owner of this selection of masterpieces3 the man who1 better inspired than the majority of his kind1 has preferred a few gems to an overgrown and unwieldy collection4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,french ,,engravers ,,in ,,the ,,reign ,,of ,,louis ,,xiv4 ,we have followed through all its stages the progress of the art of engraving1 from the time of its earliest more or less successful attempts1 to the time when a really important advance was accomplished4 ,however brilliant these early phases may have been1 properly speaking they include but the beginnings of the art4 ,the epoch we are now to traverse is that of its complete development and fullest perfection4 ,we have seen that the schools of ,italy and the ,low ,countries had1 each in its own direction1 largely increased the resources of engraving1 without exhausting them4 ,the quality of drawing would seem to have been carried to an inimitable perfection in the works of ,marc ,antonio1 had not examples of a keener sense of form and an exactness even more irreproachable been discovered in those of the ,french masters of the seventeenth century4 ,the engravings produced under the direct influence of ,rubens only remained the finest specimens of the science of colour and effect until the appearance of the plates engraved in ,paris by ,grard ,audran4 ,finally1 though the older engravers had set themselves the task of accentuating a certain kind of beauty1 suitable to the peculiar tastes and capacities of the schools to which they belonged1 none of them had sought1 at least with any success1 to present in one whole all the different species of beauty inherent in the art4 ,it was reserved for the ,french engravers of the age of ,louis ,,xiv4 to unite in one supreme effort qualities which till then had seemed to exclude each other4 ,while they proved themselves draughtsmen as skilful and colourists as good as the best of their predecessors1 they excelled them in their harmonious fusion of whatever qualities are appropriate to engraving1 as also in the elasticity of their theory and the all-round capacity of their method4 ,the works of the ,louis ,,xiii4 engravers heralded this new departure1 and prepared the way for the real masters4 ,as soon as1 with a view to securing a certain measure of independence1 the ,french school of painting had begun to free itself from the spirit of systematic imitation1 the art of line engraving proceeded resolutely along an open path1 and marked its course by still more significant improvements4 ,to say nothing of ,thomas de ,leu--who for that matter was not1 perhaps1 born in ,france#cc--;and nothing of ,lonard ,gaultier1 who1 like ,de ,leu1 principally worked in the reign of ,henri ,,iv41 ,jean ,morin1 whose method1 at once so picturesque and so firm1 was the result of a peculiar combination of acid1 dry-point1 and the graver1 ,michel ,lasne1 ,claud ,mellan--in spite of the somewhat pretentious ease and rather affected skill of his handling--and other line engravers1 variously capable1 each after his kind1 are found to owe nothing to foreign example4 ,their works already do more than hint at the new departure2 but we are approaching the period when distinguished engravers become so common in the ,french school1 that in this place we need only mention those whose names are still of special importance4 ,robert ,nanteuil1 one of the most eminently distinguished1 and1 taking them chronologically1 one of the first1 was destined for the bar1 and in his youthful tastes showed none of that irresistible tendency to the arts which is the common symptom of great talent4 ,whilst studying literature and science at ,rheims1 where he was born in #afbf1 he also took up drawing and engraving1 but with no idea of devoting himself steadily to either4 ,it seems1 however1 that after having merely dallied in odd moments with the art which was one day to make him famous1 he very soon concluded that he had served a sufficient apprenticeship2 for at nineteen he set about engraving the frontispiece to his own philosophical thesis4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #hb4--;,,jean ,,morin4 ,antoine ,vitr4 ,after ,philippe de ,champagne4 ,it was in those days the custom to ornament such writings with figures and symbols appropriate to the candidate's position1 or to the subject of his argument4 ,the most distinguished painters did not disdain to design originals1 and the frontispieces engraved from ,philippe de ,champagne1 ,lesueur1 and ,lebrun1 are not unworthy of the talent and reputation of those great men4 ,nanteuil1 in emulation1 was anxious not only to produce a masterpiece1 but to invest it with an appearance of grandeur as little fitted to his position as to his slender acquaintance with the art4 ,however that may have been1 he sustained his thesis to the satisfaction of the judges2 and1 albeit an exceedingly bad one1 his engraving was admired in the society which he frequented4#cd ,some verses addressed to ladies#ce still further increased his reputation as a universal genius4 ,unfortunately1 to all these public successes were added others of a more purely personal nature1 which were soon noised abroad2 and it would appear that1 fresh adventures having led to a vexatious scandal1 ,nanteuil1 who shortly before had married the sister of the engraver ,regnesson1 was compelled to leave1 almost in secrecy1 a place where once he had none save admirers and friends4 ,by a fatal coincidence the fugitive's family was ruined at the same time3 it became imperative for him to live by his own work1 and to seek his fortune in the practice of draughtsmanship4 ,abandoning the law1 he therefore set out for ,paris1 where he arrived poor and unknown1 but determined to succeed4 ,the question was1 how without introductions to gain patrons8 how to make profitable acquaintances in the great city8 ,after losing some days in quest of a good opening1 it is said that he hit upon a somewhat strange device4 ,he had brought with him from ,rheims some crayon portraits1 as specimens of his ability2 he chose one of these1 and waited at the door of the ,sorbonne till the young divinity students came out of class4 ,he followed them into a neighbouring wine shop1 where they were wont to take their meals1 and pretended to be looking for some one whose portrait he had taken 7he said7 the week before4 ,he knew neither the name nor address of his sitter1 but thought that if his fellow-students would look at the drawing1 they might be able and willing to help him4 ,it is superfluous to say that the original of the portrait was not recognised2 but the picture passed from hand to hand1 and was admired2 the price was asked1 the artist was careful to be moderate in his demands1 and some of the young men were so taken by the smallness of the sum1 that they offered to sit for their portraits4 ,the first finished and approved1 other students in their turn wanted their portraits for their families and friends4 ,this gave the young artist more remunerative work4 ,his connection rapidly increased1 and before long he was entrusted with the reproduction1 on copper1 of drawings commissioned by distinguished parliament men and persons of standing at the ,court4 ,at last the king1 whose portrait he afterwards engraved in different sizes--as often as eleven times--gave him a number of sittings1 after which ,nanteuil received a pension and the title of ,dessinateur du ,cabinet4#cf ,louis ,,xiv4 was not satisfied with thus rewarding a talent already recognised as superior2 he was also desirous of stimulating by general measures the development of what he had himself declared a liberal art4#cg ,engravers were privileged to exercise it without being subjected to any apprenticeship1 or controlled by other laws than those of their own genius2 and seven years later 7#affg7 the royal establishment at the ,gobelins became virtually a school of engraving4 ,whilst ,lebrun1 its first director-in-chief1 assembled therein an army of painters1 draughtsmen1 and even sculptors1 and wrought from his own designs the tapestries of the lments and the ,saisons1 ,sebastien ,leclerc superintended the labours of a large body of native and foreign engravers1 entertained at the king's expense4 ,one of these1 ,edelinck1 had been summoned to ,france by ,colbert4 ,born at ,antwerp in #afdj1 and a contemporary of the engravers trained by the disciples of ,rubens himself1 he was distinguished1 like them1 by his vigour of handling and knowledge of effect4 ,once settled in ,paris1 he supplemented these ,flemish characteristics with qualities distinctively ,french1 and was soon a foremost engraver of his time4 ,endowed with singular insight and elasticity of mind1 he readily assimilated1 and sometimes even improved upon1 the style of those painters whom he reproduced1 and adopted a new sentiment with every new original4 ,he began1 in ,france1 with an engraving of ,raphael's ,holy ,family1 the so-called ,vierge de ,franois ,i41 which is severe in aspect1 and altogether ,italian in drawing2 and he followed this up with plates of the ,madeleine of ,lebrun1 his ,christ aux ,anges1 and his ,famille de ,darius1 all of them admirable reproductions1 in which the defects of the originals are modified1 while their beauties are increased by the use of methods which make their peculiar and essential characteristics none the less conspicuous4 ,in interpreting ,lebrun1 ,edelinck altered neither his significance nor his style2 he only touched his work with fresh truth and nature3 as1 when dealing with ,rigaud1 he converted that artist's pomposity and flourish into a certain opulence and vigour4 ,when1 on the contrary1 he had to interpret a work stamped with calm and reflective genius1 his own bold and brilliant talent became impregnated with serenity1 and he could execute with a marvellous reticence such a translation as that from ,philippe de ,champagne--the painter's portrait of himself--a favourite1 it is said1 with the engraver1 and one of the masterpieces of the art4 ,when ,edelinck arrived in ,paris1 ,nanteuil1 his senior by some fifteen years1 had a studio at the ,gobelins1 close to the one where he himself was installed4 ,this seeming equality in the favour accorded to two men1 then so unequal in reputation and achievement1 would be astonishing unless we remember the object which brought them together1 and the very spirit of the institution4 ,things went on in the ,gobelins almost as they did in ,florence1 in the gardens of ,san ,marco1 under ,lorenzo de' ,medici4 ,artists of repute worked side by side with beginners3 not indeed together1 but near enough for the master continually to help the student1 and for the spirit of rivalry1 the excitement of example1 to keep alive a universal continuity of effort4 ,french art had been lately honoured by three painters of the highest order--,poussin1 ,claude1#ch and ,lesueur2 but the first two lived in retirement1 and far from ,france2 whilst the third had died leaving no pupils1 and1 consequently1 no tradition4 ,it seemed urgent1 therefore1 in order to perpetuate the glory of the school1 to gather together both men of mature talent and men whose talent was yet young and unformed1 and to impel them all towards a common object on a common line of work4 ,colbert it was who conceived and executed the plan1 who assembled all the great masters in painting1 sculpture1 and engraving1 whose services he could command1 without omitting any younger men who might seem worthy of encouragement4 ,he quartered them all at the ,gobelins1 and put over them the man best fitted to play the part of their organiser and supreme director4 ,there was a pre-established harmony between ,louis ,,xiv4 and ,lebrun1 says ,m4 ,vitet1#ci and when the painter died 7#afij71 neither he nor his master had as yet permitted any encroachment upon their territory4 ,lebrun might have appropriated a famous saying of the king1 applied it to his own absolute supremacy1 and said1 with truth1 that he alone was ,french art4 ,everything connected with the art of design1 whether directly or indirectly1 from statues and pictures for public buildings down to furniture and gold plate1 were all subject to his authority1 and were all moulded by his influence4 ,it was an unfortunate influence in some respects1 for it made the painting and sculpture of the epoch monotonously bombastic2 but to engraving1 under whose auspices contemporary pictures were sometimes transformed into real masterpieces1 it cannot be said to have been unfavourable4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #hc4--;,,jean ,,pesne4 ,the ,entombment4 ,after ,poussin4 ,when ,lebrun was called to the government of the arts1 the number of practical engravers in ,france was already considerable4 ,jean ,pesne1 the special interpreter of ,poussin1 had published several of those vigorous prints which even now shed honour on the name of the engraver of the vanouissement d',esther1 of the ,testament d',eudamidas1 and of the ,sept ,sacrements4 ,claudine ,bouzonnet1 surnamed ,claudia ,stella1 who by the force of her extraordinary gift has won her way to the highest rank among female engravers1 tienne ,baudet1 and ,gantrel--all these1 like ,jean ,pesne1 applied themselves almost exclusively to the task of reproducing the compositions of the noble painter of ,les ,andelys4 ,on the other hand1 ,franois de ,poilly1 ,roullet1 and ,masson 7the last so celebrated for his portrait of ,count d',harcourt1 and his ,pilgrims of ,emmaus1 after ,titian71 and many others equally well known1 had won their spurs before they devoted themselves to the reproduction of ,lebrun4 ,finally1 ,nanteuil1 who only engraved a few portraits from originals by the director1 was already widely known when ,colbert requested him to join1 among the first1 the brotherhood which he had founded at the ,gobelins4 ,as soon as in his turn ,edelinck was admitted1 he hastened to profit by the advice of the master whom it was his privilege to be associated with2 and1 aided by ,nanteuil's example1 and under ,nanteuil's eye1 he soon tried his hand in the production of engraved portraits4 ,no one indeed could be better fitted than ,nanteuil to teach this special art1 in which he has had few rivals and no superior4 ,even now1 when we consider these admirable portraits of his1 we are as certain of the likeness as if we had known the sitters4 ,everybody's expression is so clearly defined1 the character of his physiognomy so accurately portrayed1 that it is impossible to doubt the absolute truth of the representation4 ,there is no touch of picturesque affectation in the details2 no exaggerated nicety of means2 no trick1 nor mannerism of any sort2 but always clear and limpid workmanship1 and style so reticent1 so measured1 that at first glance there is a certain indescribable appearance of coldness1 no hindrance to persons of taste1 but a pitfall to such eager and hasty judgments as1 to be conquered1 must be carried by storm4 ,nanteuil's portraits come before us in all the outward calm of nature2 possibly they seem almost inartistic because they make no parade of artifice2 but1 once examined with attention1 they discover that highest and rarest form of merit which is concealed under an appearance of simplicity4 ,if the ,turenne1 the ,prsident de ,bellivre1 the ,van ,steenberghen 7called the ,avocat de ,hollande71 the ,pierre de ,maridat1 the ,lamothe ,le ,vayer1 the ,loret1 and others1 are masterpieces of refinement in expression and drawing1 they also prove1 as regards execution1 the exquisite taste and the marvellous dexterity of the engraver4 ,but to discern the variety of method they display1 and to perceive that the handling is as sure and fertile as it is learned and unpretentious1 they must be closely studied4 ,as a rule1 ,nanteuil employs in his half-lights dots arranged at varying distances1 according to the force of colouring required1 in combination with short strokes of exceeding fineness4 ,sometimes--as1 for instance1 in the ,christine de ,sude1 altogether engraved in this manner--the process suffices him not only to model such parts as verge upon his lights1 but even to construct the masses of his shadows4 ,the ,edouard ,mol is1 on the contrary1 in pure line4 ,the soft silkiness of hair he often expresses by free and flowing lines1 some of which1 breaking away from the principal mass1 are relieved against the background1 breaking the monotony of the workmanship1 and suggesting movement by their vagueness of contour4 ,often1 too1 certain loose lines1 either broken or continued without crossing in different directions1 admirably distinguish the natures of certain substances1 and imitate to perfection the soft richness of furs or the sheen of satin4 ,yet it sometimes happens that in the master's hand the same method results in the most opposite effects3 a print1 for instance1 may exemplify in its treatment of the textures of flesh a method applied elsewhere1 and with equal success1 to the rendering of draperies4 ,in a word1 ,nanteuil does not appropriate any particular process to any predetermined purpose4 ,while judiciously subordinating each to propriety1 he can1 when he pleases1 make the most of all2 and whatever path he follows1 it always appears that he has taken the best to reach his end4 ,it was not only to the teaching of ,nanteuil that ,edelinck had recourse2 he still further improved his style by studying his countryman1 ,nicolas ,pitau 7whom ,colbert had also summoned from ,antwerp to the ,gobelins71 and afterwards by acquiring the secret of brilliant handling from ,franois de ,poilly4 ,to which of these engravers he was most indebted is a point which cannot be exactly determined4 ,after investing himself with qualities from each1 he did not imitate one more than another2 he found his inspiration in the examples of all three4 ,nanteuil and ,edelinck1 first united by their work1 were soon fast friends1 in spite of the difference of their ages1 and the still greater difference of their tastes4 ,the ,french engraver sent for his wife from ,rheims as soon as he found himself in a fair way to success and fortune2 but he had also in some degree returned to the habits of his youth4 ,a shining light in society1 and as intimate with the cultured set at ,mlle4 de ,scudry's as with the devotees of pleasures less strictly intellectual1 his career of dissipation in the salons and fashionable taverns of the day contrasts strangely with the sober quality of his talent1 and increases our surprise at the number of works which he produced4 ,even his declining health did not change his habits4 ,till the end he continued to divide his time between his work and the world2 and at his death1 in #afgh1 at the age of fifty-two1 he left nothing1 or almost nothing1 to his wife1 in spite of the large sums he had made since he came to ,paris4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #hd4--;,,jean ,,pesne4 ,nicolas ,poussin4 ,edelinck's fate was very different4 ,he lived in seclusion1 given over to his art and to the one ambition of becoming churchwarden 7marguillier7 of his parish3 a position refused him1 it is said1 as reserved for tradesmen and official personages1 and with which he was only at length invested by the condescending interference of the king4 ,it was probably the only favour personally solicited by ,edelinck1 but it was by no means the first he owed to the protection of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,before the churchwardenship he held the title of ,premier ,dessinateur du ,cabinet4 ,like ,lebrun1 like ,mansart and ,le ,ntre1 he was a ,knight of ,st4 ,michael1 and the ,academy of ,painting elected him as one of its council4 ,his old age1 like the rest of his days1 was quiet and laborious2 and when he died 7#agjg7 his two brothers and his son ,nicolas1 who had all three been his pupils1 inherited a fortune as wisely husbanded as it had been honourably acquired4 ,edelinck survived the principal engravers of the reign of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,franois de ,poilly1 ,roullet1 ,masson1 and ,jean ,pesne1 had more or less closely followed ,nanteuil to the grave4 ,at the ,gobelins1 once so rich in ability of the first order1 students had taken the place of masters1 and clever craftsmen succeeded to artists of genuine inspiration4 ,van ,schuppen had followed ,nanteuil1 as ,mignard had ,lebrun1 from necessity rather than right4 ,and last of all1 ,grard ,audran1 the most distinguished engraver of the time--whom1 for the sake of clearness in our narrative1 we have not yet mentioned--had died in #agjc2 and though members of his family did honour to the name he had distinguished1 none of them were able to sustain the full weight of its glory4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #he4--;,g,,rard ,,audran4 ,la ,noblesse4 ,after ,raphael4 ,one would hardly venture to say that ,grard ,audran was an engraver of genius1 because it does not seem permissible to apply the term to one whose business it is to interpret the creations of others1 and subordinate himself to models he has not himself designed2 yet how else can one characterise a talent so full of life1 so startling a capacity for feeling1 and a method at once so large1 so unstudied1 and so original8 ,do not the plates of ,grard ,audran bear witness to something more than mere superficial skill8 ,do they not rather reveal qualities more subtle--a something personal and living1 which raises them to the rank of imaginative work8 ,their real fault1 perhaps--at least the fault of those after ,lebrun or ,mignard--is that they are not reproductions of a purer type of beauty4 ,and even these masters are so far dignified by the creative touch of their translator as almost to seem worthy of unreserved admiration4 ,we can understand the mistake of the ,italians1 who thought1 when they saw the ,batailles d',alexandre1 in black and white1 that ,france1 too1 had her ,raphael1 when1 in reality1 allowing for difference of manner1 she could only glory in another ,marc ,antonio4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #hf4--;,g,,rard ,,audran4 ,navigation4 ,after ,raphael4 ,grard ,audran was born in ,lyons in #afdj1 and there obtained from his father his first lessons in art4 ,afterwards he went to ,paris1 and placed himself under the most famous masters of the day1 by whose aid he was soon introduced to ,lebrun1 and at once commissioned to engrave one of ,raphael's compositions4 ,when ,audran undertook the work1 he had not the picture before him1 as ,edelinck had when he engraved the ,vierge de ,franois ,i4 ,his original was only a pencil copy which ,lebrun had brought back from ,italy2 hence no doubt the modern character and the ,french style which are stamped on the engraving4 ,feeling dissatisfied with his work1 the young artist did not publish it1 but determined to study the ,italians in ,italy1 to educate himself directly from their works1 and thenceforth to engrave only those pictures of which he could judge at first-hand without the danger of an intermediary4 ,he set off therefore for ,rome1 and remained there for three years1 during which time he produced several copies painted at the ,vatican1 many drawings from the antique1 several plates after ,raphael1 ,domenichino1 and the ,carraccis1 and the engraving of a ceiling by ,pietro da ,cortona1 which last he dedicated to ,colbert4 ,by this act of homage he acquitted himself of a debt of gratitude to the minister who had favoured him ever since his arrival in ,paris1 and who1 at ,lebrun's request1 had supplied the means of his sojourn in ,italy4 ,on ,colbert's part it was only an act of justice to recall ,audran to ,france1 and to entrust him with the engraving of the lately finished series of the ,batailles d',alexandre1 for the great publication called the ,cabinet du ,roi4 ,to the engraver1 then twenty-seven years old1 a pension was granted1 with a studio at the ,gobelins1 then the customary reward of talents brilliantly displayed4 ,it may be added that six years 7#afgb-afgh7 sufficed him to finish the stupendous task4 ,treated as a friend1 and almost on an equal footing1 by ,lebrun1 who for no one else departed from the routine of his official supremacy1 ,audran exerted over the king's chief painter a considerable1 if a secret1 influence4 ,in spite of all that has been said1#dj ,lebrun was not the kind of man to openly question his own infallibility1 nor to advertise his deference to the advice of an artist so much younger than himself1 his pupil1 so to speak1 and consequently without the authority of any higher degree2 yet he frequently consulted him1 and took his advice1 in private4 ,also 7and this is significant7 when the engravings of the ,batailles appeared--engravings to a certain extent unfaithful1 inasmuch as they differed decidedly from the originals--the fact that the painter made no complaint points to his recognition in ,audran of the right to correct1 and to his implicit submission to ,audran's corrections4 ,in this respect ,lebrun conducted himself as a man of the world1 and one well able to understand the true interests of his reputation4 ,he had everything to gain by giving full liberty to an engraver by whose perfect taste the blunders of his own were corrected1 and who harmonised his frequently harsh and heavy colouring1 and strengthened in modelling and design his often undecided expression of form4 ,thus the plates of the ,batailles1 in addition to the high quality of the composition of the originals1 present1 alike in general aspect and in detail1 a decision which belongs to ,audran alone4 ,force and transparency of tone1 largeness of effect1 and1 above all1 a distinctly marked feeling for characteristic truths1 are conspicuous in them4 ,not a single condition of art is imperfectly fulfilled4 ,marc ,antonio himself drew with no more certainty2 the ,flemings themselves had no deeper knowledge of chiaroscuro2 the ,french engravers1 not excepting even ,edelinck1#da have never treated historical engraving with such ease and mestria4 ,in a word1 none of the most famous engravers of ,europe have been1 we believe1 so richly endowed with all artistic instincts1 nor have better understood their use4 ,the ,batailles d',alexandre finished1 ,audran engraved ,lesueur's ,martyre de ,saint ,protais2 several ,poussins1 amongst others the ,pyrrhus ,sauv1 the ,femme ,adultre1 and the radiant ,triomphe de la ,vrit1 one of the most beautiful 7if not the most beautiful7 historical engravings ever published2 and1 after ,mignard1 the ,peste d'gine1 and the paintings in the cupola at ,val-de-,grce4 ,these several works1 where elevation of taste and sentiment are no less triumphantly manifest than in the ,batailles themselves1 are also finished examples of engraving in the literal sense of the word4 ,audran disdained to flaunt his skill1 and to surprise the eye by technical display1 but he understood to the utmost all the secrets and resources of the craft1 and employed them with more ability than any competitor4 ,associating engraving with etching1 he deepened with powerful touches of the burin those strokes of the needle which had merely served to suggest outlines1 masses of shadow1 and half-tints4 ,on occasion1 short strokes1 free as a pencil's1 and seemingly drawn at random1 with dots of different sizes1 distributed with apparent carelessness1 sufficed for the modelling of his forms2 at others1 he proceeded by a consistent system of cross-hatching4 ,here rough etching work is tumbled about 7so to speak7 in wild disorder2 there a contrary effect is produced by nearly parallel furrows scooped in the metal with methodical exactness2 but everywhere the choice and progress of the tools are based on conditions inherent in the nature of the several objects1 and their relative positions and distances4 ,audran did not try to attract attention to any of the methods he employed2 he made each heighten the effect of the other1 and combined them all without parade of ease1 and yet without confusion4 ,so many admirable works secured for ,audran a fame such as ,edelinck1 as ,nanteuil himself1 had never obtained4 ,the ,academy of ,painting1 which had welcomed him after the publication of his first plates1 elected him as one of its council in #afha4 ,the school of engraving which he opened grew larger than any other1 and many of his pupils became notable even in his company1 and helped to increase the renown of the master who had trained them4#db ,towards the close of his life ,audran laid by the burin for the pen4 ,following ,albert ,drer's example1 he proposed to put together1 in the form of treatises1 his life-long observations on the art he had so successfully practised4 ,unfortunately1 this task was interrupted by his death2 and1 excepting a ,recueil des ,proportions du ,corps ,humain1 nothing is left us of those teachings which the greatest engraver1 not only of ,france1 but perhaps of any school1 had desired to hand on to posterity4 ,by their works1 ,nanteuil1 ,audran1 and the other masters of the reign of ,louis ,,xiv41 had popularised historical and portrait engraving in ,france4 ,the taste for prints spread more and more1 and amateurs began to make collections4 ,at first they confined themselves to real masterpieces2 after which they began to covet the complete achievement of peculiar engravers4 ,the mania for rare prints became fashionable2 and we learn from ,la ,bruyre that1 before the end of the century1 some amateurs had already come to prefer engravings presque pas tires--engravings fitter to decorate the ,petit-,pont or the ,rue ,neuve on a holiday than to be hoarded in a collection--to the most perfect specimens of the art4 ,others were chiefly occupied with the bulk of their collections1 and treasured up confused heaps of all sorts of plates1 good1 bad1 and indifferent4 ,others there were who only cared about such as did not exceed a certain size2 and it is told of one devotee of this faith that1 inasmuch as he would harbour nothing in his portfolios but round engravings of exactly the same circumference1 he was used to cut ruthlessly to his pattern whatever came into his hands4 ,we must add that1 side by side with such maniacs1 intelligent men like the ,abb de ,marolles and the ,marquis de ,bringhen increased their collections to good purpose1 and were content to bring together the most important specimens of ancient engraving and such as best served to illustrate the more modern progress of the art4 ,in ,france1 however1 it was not only the best expressions of engraving that were considered4 ,on the heels of the great engravers there followed a crowd of second-rate workmen4 ,besides history and portrait1 every variety of print was published3 domestic scenes1 architecture and topography1 costumes1 ftes1 and public celebrations4 ,the engraving of maps greatly improved under the direction of ,adrian and ,guillaume ,sanson1 sons of the famous ,geographer in ,ordinary to ,louis ,,xiii4 ,jacques ,gomboust1 the king's ,engineer in ,ordinary for the drawing up of plans of towns1 published1 as early as #afeb1 a map of ,paris and its suburbs in nine sheets1 much more exact and more carefully engraved than those of former reigns4 ,fashion plates were multiplied ad infinitum2 and a periodical called ,le ,mercure ,galant steadily produced new modes in apparel and personal ornaments4 ,certain collections also1 destined to perpetuate the remembrance of the events of the reign1 or the personal actions of the king1 were published by order1 and at the expense of ,his ,majesty1 with a luxury justified at any rate by the importance of the artists participating in the work4 ,the very almanacs bear the stamp of talent1 and are not unfrequently inscribed with the names of celebrated engravers1 such as ,lepautre1 ,franois ,spierre1 ,chauveau1 ,sbastien ,leclerc1 and ,de ,poilly4 ,in the days of ,henri ,,iv4 and ,louis ,,xiii4 almanacs were printed on a single sheet1 with a border sometimes of allegorical figures1 but1 more often1 composed simply of the attributes of the seasons4 ,it was under ,louis ,,xiv4 that they at first appeared on larger paper1 and then in several sheets1 wherein were represented the most important events of the year1 or1 it might be1 some ceremony or court fte4 ,in one is pictured the ,battle of ,senef1 or the signing of the ,treaty of ,nimeguen2 in another1 perhaps1 the king is represented dancing the ,strasbourg minuet1 or offering a collation to ladies4 ,of course the majority of these prints are valueless in point of execution1 and are1 moreover1 of an almost purely commercial character2 but those which are poorest from an artistic point of view are still worthy of interest1 since they afford indisputable information concerning the people and the habits and manners of the time4 ,whilst many ,french artists were devoting themselves to the engraving of subjects of manners or domestic scenes1 or to the illustration of books and almanacs1 others were making satirical sketches of current events and popular persons4 ,the engraving of caricatures1 though it only dates from the middle of the seventeenth century1 had been practised long before in ,france and other countries4 ,to say nothing of the ,danses macabres1 a sort of religious1 or at any rate philosophical1 satire1 we might mention certain caricatures published even before the ,carracci in ,italy2 in the ,low ,countries in the time of ,jerome ,bosch and ,breughel2 in ,germany in the reign of ,maximilian ,,ii42 and finally in ,france1 in the reign of ,charles ,,ix4 ,but all these are either as stupidly licentious as those afterwards made upon ,henri ,,iii4 and his courtiers1 or as heavily grotesque as those of the time of the ,league1 towards the end of the reign of ,henri ,,iv4 ,when ,louis ,,xiii4 came to the throne1 the wit of the caricaturists was little keener1 if we may judge by the coarse pictorial lazzi inspired by the disgrace and death of the ,marchal d',ancre1 and the ,dutch and ,spanish prints designed in ridicule of the ,french2 but some years later1 when ,callot had introduced into the treatment of burlesque a keenness and delicacy which it could hardly have been expected to attain1 the comic prints assumed under the burin of certain engravers an appearance of greater ingenuity and less brutality4 ,it is needless to remark that at the beginning of the reign of ,louis ,,xiv4--indeed1 during the whole time of the ,fronde and the foreign occupation of a part of ,french territory--it was ,mazarin and the ,spaniards who came in for all the epigrams4 ,in the caricatures of the day the ,spaniards were invariably represented with enormous ruffs1 in tatters superbly worn1 and1 to complete the allusion to their poverty1 with bunches of beetroot and onions at their belts4 ,there is nothing particularly comic1 nor especially refined1 in the execution of the prints4 ,in piquancy and truth1 these jokes about ,spanish manners and ,spanish food recall those presently to be made in ,england about ,frenchmen1 who are there invariably represented as frog-eaters and dancing-masters4 ,yet comparing the faceti of that period with the exaggerated or obscene humours which preceded them1 it seems as though the domain of caricature were even then being opened up to worthy precursors of the lively draughtsmen of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries3 in fact1 as though some ,attic salt were already penetrating to ,botia4 ,this advance is visible in the satires published towards the end of the reign of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,the ,procession ,monacale1 a set of twenty-four engravings which appeared in ,holland 7where many ,protestants had taken refuge71 attacked with considerable vigour the revocation of the ,edict of ,nantes1 and the principal persons who had participated in that measure4 ,louvois1 ,mme4 de ,maintenon1 and all the privy councillors of ,louis ,,xiv41 are represented under the cowl1 and with significant attributes4 ,even the king figures in this series of heroes of the ,new ,league2 he is in a monk's frock like the others1 but a sun1 in allusion to his lofty device1 serves for his face1 and this hooded ,phbus bears in his hand a torch to light himself through the surrounding darkness4 ,the prints that make up this set1 as well as many more in the same style1 are designed and engraved with a certain amount of spirit4 ,they serve to prove that in the frivolous arts1 as well as in the comic literature of the day1 the object was to make decent folk laugh1 and to keep joking within bounds4 ,in a word1 in comparison with former caricatures1 they are as the vaudevilles of the ,italian comedy to the farces once played on the boards of strolling theatres4 ,every sort of engraving being cultivated in ,france with more success than anywhere else1 under ,louis ,,xiv4 the trade in prints became one of the most flourishing branches of ,french industry4 ,the great historical plates1 it is true--those at any rate which1 like the ,batailles d',alexandre1 were published at the king's cost--were chiefly sold in ,france1 and were not often exported1 save as presents to sovereigns and ambassadors4 ,but portraits1 domestic scenes1 and fashion plates1 were shipped off in thousands1 and flooded all parts of ,europe4 ,before the second half of the seventeenth century1 the chief printsellers 7for the most part engravers themselves and publishers of their own works7 were established in ,paris on the ,quai de l',horloge1 or1 like ,abraham ,bosse1 in the interior of the ,palace4 ,rather later than this1 the most popular shops were to be found in the neighbourhood of the ,church of ,st4 ,sverin4 ,if we examine the prints then published in ,paris1 we may count as many as thirty publishers living in the ,rue ,st4 ,jacques alone1 and amongst the number are many famous names3 as ,grard ,audran1 at the sign of the ,two ,golden ,pillars2 ,franois de ,poilly1 at the sign of ,st4 ,benedict1 and so forth4 ,hence1 we may mention1 in passing1 the mistake which attributes to engravers of the greatest talent the production of bad plates1 to which they would never have put finger except to take proofs4 ,for instance1 the words ,grard ,audran excudit1 to be found at the bottom of many such1 do not mean that they were engraved by the master1 but only published by him4 ,often1 too1 pseudonyms--not always in the best possible taste--concealed the name of the publisher and the place of publication3 a precaution easily understood1 as it was generally applied to obscenities1 and particularly to those called pices surprise1 which were then becoming common1 and continued to increase indefinitely during the following century4 ,true art1 however1 is but little concerned with such curiosities2 and it is best to look elsewhere for its manifestations4 ,the superior merit of the engraving of the masters of the ,french school had attracted numbers of foreign artists to ,paris4 ,many took root there1 amongst them ,van ,schuppen and the ,flemings commissioned to engrave the ,victoires du ,roi1 painted by ,van der ,meulen2 others1 having finished their course of study1 returned to their own countries1 the missionaries of ,french doctrine and of ,french manner4 ,the result of this united influence was an almost exact similarity in all the line engravings produced1 by men of whatever nationality or from whatever originals4 ,thus1 the portraits engraved by the ,german ,johann ,hainzelmann from ,ulrich ,mayer and ,joachim ,sandrart1 scarcely differ from those he had formerly engraved from ,french artists3 the ,michel ,le ,tellier1 for instance1 and the ,prsident ,dufour4 ,the historical plates published about the same time in ,germany prove the same lively zeal in imitation4 ,in them art appears as1 so to speak1 a ,french subject2 and ,gustave ,ambling1 ,bartholomew ,kilian1#dc and many more of their countrymen--pupils1 like these two1 of ,franois de ,poilly--might be classed amongst the engravers of the ,french school1 if the style of their work were the only thing to be considered4 ,an examination of the prints published by ,flemish and ,dutch artists later than the school of ,rubens and ,van ,dalen1 would justify a like observation4 ,we may fairly regard ,van ,schuppen only as a clever pupil of ,nanteuil1 and ,cornelius ,vermeulen as an imitator1 less successful1 but no less subservient4 ,and when we turn to the ,italian engravers of the seventeenth century1 we find that1 as a rule1 their work is marked by so impersonal a physiognomy1 is so much the outcome of certain preconceived and rigid conventions1 that one could almost believe them inspired by the same mind1 and done by the same hand4 ,whilst ,french influence reigned almost supreme in ,germany and the ,low ,countries1 and ,italian art became more and more the slave of routine1 ,english engraving had not yet begun to feel the influence of the progress elsewhere achieved since the beginning of the century4 ,the time was1 however1 at hand when1 in the reign of ,louis ,,xv41 ,london engravers who came to study in ,paris should return to their own country to practise successfully the lessons they had learned4 ,we must1 therefore1 presently turn to them2 but1 before speaking of the pupils1 we must briefly mention the achievements of the masters1 and narrate the story of ,french engraving in ,france after the death of the excellent artists of the age of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,engraving ,,in ,,france ,,and ,,in ,,other ,,european ,,countries ,,in ,,the ,,eighteenth ,,century4 ,,new ,,processes3 ,,stipple1 ,,crayon1 ,,colour1 ,,and ,,aquatint4 ,morin1 ,nanteuil1 ,masson1 and the other portrait engravers of the period1 in spite of the variety of their talent1 left their immediate successors a similar body of doctrine and a common tradition4 ,now the works of the painter ,rigaud1 whose importance had considerably increased towards the end of the reign of ,louis ,,xiv41 made certain modifications of this severe tradition necessary on the part of the artists employed to engrave them4 ,portraits1 for the most part bust portraits1 relieved against an almost naked background1 were no longer in fashion4 ,to render a crowd of accessories which1 while enriching the composition1 frequently encumbered it beyond measure1 became the problem in engraving4 ,it was successfully solved by ,pierre ,drevet1 his son ,pierre ,imbert1 and his nephew ,claude ,drevet1 this last the author1 amongst other plates now much prized1 of a ,guillaume de ,vintimille and a ,count ,zinzendorff4 ,the first of these three engravers--at ,lyons the pupil of ,germain ,audran1 and at ,paris of ,antoine ,masson--engraved1 with some few exceptions1 only portraits1 the best known of which are a full-length ,louis ,,xiv41 ,louis ,,xv4 as a ,child1 ,cardinal ,fleury1 and ,count ,toulouse2 they attest an extreme skill of hand1 and a keen perception of the special characteristics of the originals4 ,the second1 the similarity of whose ,christian name has often caused him to be mistaken for his father1 showed himself from the first still more skilful and more certain of his own powers4 ,he was only twenty-six when he finished his full-length ,bossuet1 in which the precision of the handling1 the exactness and brilliancy of the burin work1 seem to indicate a talent already arrived at maturity4 ,in this plate1 indeed1 and in some others by the same engraver--as the ,cardinal ,dubois1 the ,adrienne ,lecouvreur1 and others--there are parts1 perhaps1 that seem almost worthy of ,nanteuil himself4 ,it is impossible to imitate with greater nicety the richness of ermine1 the delicacy of lace1 and the polish and brilliancy of gilding2 but the subtle delicacy of physiognomy1 the elasticity of living flesh which animated the portraits of the earlier masters1 will here be looked for in vain4 ,such work is the outcome of an art no longer supreme1 albeit of a very high order still4 ,as much may be said of the best historical plates engraved in ,france under the ,regency1 and in the first years of ,louis ,,xv4 ,the older manner1 it is true1 was still perceptible1 but it was beginning to change1 and was soon to be concealed more and more under a parade of craftsmanship amusingly self-conscious1 and an elegance refined to the point of affectation4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #hg4--,,laurent ,,cars4 ,l',avare4 ,from ,boucher's ,molire4 ,the ,french engravers of the time of ,louis ,,xv4 may be divided into two distinct groups3 the one submitting to the authority of ,rigaud1 and partially preserving the tradition of the last century2 the other1 of greater numerical importance1 and in some respects of greater ability1 but1 in imitation of ,watteau and his followers1 seeking success in attractiveness of subject1 grace of handling1 and the expression of a general prettiness1 rather than in the faithful rendering of truth4 ,as we know1 the manners of the time were not calculated to discourage a like tendency1 which1 indeed1 grew more and more general amongst artists during the whole course of the eighteenth century1 until it ended in a revolution1 as radical in its way as the great political one3 namely1 the exclusive worship of a somewhat barren simplicity and of the antique narrowly understood4 ,in #agej 7that is to say1 almost at the very time of the birth of ,david1 the future reformer of the school7 the public asked nothing more of art than a passing amusement4 ,the immediate successors of ,lebrun had brought the historical style into great disrepute4 ,people had wearied of the pompous parade of allegory1 the tyranny of splendour1 the monotony of luxury2 they took refuge in another extreme--in the exaggeration of grace and all the coquetries of sentiment4 ,pastorals1 or would-be pastorals1 and subjects for the most part mythological1 took the place of heroic actions and academical apotheoses4 ,they had not a whit more nature than these others1 but they had at any rate more interest for the mind1 and greater charm for the eye4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #hh4--,,laurent ,,cars4 ,le ,dpit ,amoureux4 ,from ,boucher's ,molire4 ,from the point of view of engraving alone1 the prints published in ,france at this time are for the most part models of spirit and delicacy1 as those of the ,louis ,,xiv4 masters are of learned execution and vigorous conception4 ,moreover1 under the frivolous forms affected by ,french engraving in the eighteenth century1 something not unfrequently survives of the masterly skill and science of the older men4 ,it is to be supposed that ,laurent ,cars remembered the example of ,grard ,audran1 and1 in his own way1 succeeded in perpetuating it when he engraved ,lemoyne's ,hercule et ,omphale1 and ,dlivrance d',andromde4 ,even when he was reproducing such fantasies as the ,fte vnitienne of ,watteau1 or scenes of plain family life1 like ,chardin's ,amusements de la ,vie prive1 and ,la ,serinette1 he had the art of supplementing from his own taste whatever strength and dignity his originals might lack4 ,was it not1 too1 by appropriating the doctrine1 or at least the method1 of ,audran--his free alliance of the burin with the needle--that ,nicolas de ,larmessin1 ,lebas1 ,lpici1 ,aveline1 ,duflos1 ,dupuis1 and others1 produced their charming transcripts of ,pater1 ,lancret1 ,boucher himself--in spite of his impertinences of manner and his unpleasant falseness of colour--and1 above all1 ,watteau1 of all the masters of the eighteenth century the best understood and the most brilliantly interpretated by the engravers8 ,a while later1 ,greuze had the honour to occupy them most2 and some among them1 as ,levasseur and ,flipart1 did not fail to acquit themselves with ability of a task rendered peculiarly difficult by the flaccid and laboured execution of the originals4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #hi4--;,,chedel4 ,arlequin ,jaloux4 ,after ,watteau4 ,however summary our description of the progress of ,french engraving during the whole of the reign of ,louis ,,xv41 or the early years of ,louis ,,xvi41 it is scarcely possible not to mention1 side by side with historical and genre engraving1 the countless illustrations--of novels1 fables1 songs1 and publications of every description--the general aspect of which so strongly bears witness to the fertility and grace of ,french art at that time4 ,it is difficult to omit the names of those agreeable engravers of dainty subjects1 not seldom of their own design3 those poet minores1 the vaudevillists of the burin1 who1 from the interpreters of ,gravelot1 ,eisen1 and ,gabriel de ,st4 ,aubin to ,choffard1 from ,cochin to ,moreau1 have left us so much work steeped in the richest1 the most varied imagination1 or informed by an exquisite natural perception4 ,ready and ingenious above all others1 delicate even in their most capricious flights1 witty before everything1 they are artists whose accomplishment1 in spite of its appearance of frivolity1 is not to be matched for delicacy and science in the work of any other epoch1 or the school of any other country4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ij4--;,,cochin4 ,la ,main ,chaude4 ,after ,de ,troy4 ,placed1 in some sort1 at an equal distance from the contemporary historical engravers and the engravers of illustrations1 and divided1 as it were1 between the recollections of the past and the examples of the present1 ,ficquet1 and some years later1 ,augustin de ,st4 ,aubin1 produced the little portraits which are as popular now as then4 ,the portraits of ,ficquet are prized above all2 though those of ,st4 ,aubin1 in spite of their small size1 exhibit a largeness and firmness of modelling not to be found in work that is sometimes preferred to them4 ,what is more1 ,ficquet's plates are generally only reductions of prints already published by other engravers1 ,nanteuil1 ,edelinck1 and the rest2 whilst the portraits of ,st4 ,aubin have the merit of being directly taken from original pictures or drawings4 ,as a rule1 however1 these portraits are relieved on a dead black ground1 without gradation or variety of effect2 and it is probably to the somewhat harsh and monotonous aspect thus produced that we must attribute the comparative disfavour with which they are regarded4 ,it is also permissible to suppose that ,ficquet's almost microscopic prints1 like those of his imitators1 ,savart and ,grateloup1 owe much of their popularity to their extreme finish4 ,when the mind is not exercised in discerning the essential parts of an art1 the eye is apt to look upon excessive neatness of workmanship as the certain evidence of perfection4 ,as people insensible to the charm of painting fall confidingly into raptures over the pictures of ,carlo ,dolci1 ,gerard ,dow1 and ,denner1 so1 it maybe1 certain admirers of ,ficquet esteem his talent in proportion to the exaggerated cleanness and carefulness of his plates4 ,yet his real merit does not entirely rest on such secondary considerations4 ,many of his small portraits1 most of them intended as illustrations1 are remarkable for firm drawing and delicate facial expression2 and if the work were generally simpler and less crowded with half-tints1 it might be classed1 as miniature in line1 with ,petitot's enamels4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ia4--;,,augustin ,,de ,,st4 ,,aubin4 ,rameau4 ,after ,caffieri4 ,the analogy1 however1 can only be supported with regard to their talent2 their dispositions differ in every point4 ,the painter ,petitot1 a fervent ,calvinist1 whose life presents a curious contrast with the worldly character of his work1 had the honour to attract the attention of ,bossuet1 who1 it is said1 attempted to convert him4 ,he was imprisoned at ,for-l',evque after the revocation of the ,edict of ,nantes1 and only quitted it to devote himself to solitude and study4 ,ficquet1 for his part1 took no interest whatever in religious questions1 and gave up every spare moment to the pursuit of pleasure2 he was1 besides1 for ever short of money1 and was perpetually hunted by his creditors1 who1 weary of struggling1 usually ended by installing him in their own houses to finish a plate for them4 ,it was in this way that he came to spend nearly two months at ,st4 ,cyr1 in the very heart of which community he engraved his ,mme4 de ,maintenon1 after ,mignard4 ,this portrait1 paid for long previously to the last farthing1 made no progress whatever2 and the ,mother ,superior1 having exhausted prayers and reproaches1 and despairing of seeing it finished1 addressed herself to the metropolitan4 ,from him she obtained permission to introduce the artist into the convent1 and to keep him there till the accomplishment of his task4 ,but things went on no better4 ,ficquet1 bored to death in his seclusion1 simply slept out the time1 and never touched his graver4 ,one day he sent for the ,superior1 and told her that if he stayed at ,st4 ,cyr to all eternity1 he could not work in the solitude they had made for him2 amusement he must and would have1 and in default of better1 it must be the conversation of the nuns2 he added1 in a word1 that he refused to finish the portrait unless some of them came every day to keep him company4 ,his conditions were accepted2 and to encourage him still further1 some of the pupils accompanied the nuns1 and played and sang to him in his room4 ,at length the long-expected plate was ready2 but ,ficquet1 disgusted with the work1 destroyed it1 and would only consent to begin again on the promise of instant liberty and a still larger sum4 ,by these means the nuns of ,st4 ,cyr at last became possessed of the likeness of their foundress1 and the little ,mme4 de ,maintenon--which is perhaps ,ficquet's masterpiece--made up to them for the strange exactions with which they had had to comply4 ,as the habit of employing etching in the execution of their works had gained ground among artists1 the temptation to have recourse to this speedy process had vanquished one person after another1 even those who seemed least likely to yield1 whether from their position in society1 or their former methods4 ,there were soon as many amateur as professional engravers2 and learning the use of the needle well enough to sketch a pastoral was soon as fashionable as turning a madrigal4 ,among the first to set the example was the ,regent2 he engraved a set of illustrations for an edition of ,daphnis et ,chloe1 and his initiative was followed by crowds of all ranks3 great lords like the ,duc de ,chevreuse and the ,marquis de ,coigny2 gentlemen of the gown1 like the ,prsident de ,gravelle2 financiers1 scholars1 and men of letters1 like ,watelet1 ,count ,caylus1 and ,d',argenville4#dd ,court ladies and the wives of plain citizens joined the throng2 from the ,duchesse de ,luynes and the ,queen herself1 to ,mme4 de ,pompadour and ,mme4 ,reboul 7who afterwards married the painter ,vien71 there were scores of women who amused themselves by engraving1 to say nothing of the many who made it a profession4 ,the drawback of such pastimes1 innocent enough in themselves1 was that they degraded art into a frivolous amusement1 and promulgated a false view of its capabilities and real object4 ,this is what very generally happens when1 on the strength of a certain degree of taste1 mistaken for talent1 people aspire to compass1 without reflection or study1 results only to be attained by knowledge and experience4 ,the authors of such hasty work think art easy1 because they are ignorant of its essentials2 and the public1 in its turn mistaken as to these1 accepts appearances for reality1 becomes accustomed to the pretence of merit1 and loses all taste for true superiority4 ,every art may be thus perverted2 and in our own days1 amateur water colours1 statuettes1 and waltzes are as injurious to painting1 sculpture1 and music1 as1 in former days1 the amusement of print-making was to engraving4 ,moreover1 it was not art only that these prints began to injure4 ,prompted by gallantry1 as understood by the younger ,crbillon and ,voisenon when they wrote their experiences1 they often presented to the eyes of women scenes to the description of which they would not have listened3 as a certain lady is reported to have asked ,baron de ,besenval1 during the relation of an embarrassing adventure1 to draw a picture-puzzle of what he couldn't tell her4 ,often1 however1 engraving1 as practised in the salons1 appealed to quite another order of passions and ideas4 ,in support of the great cause of the day--philosophy--all weapons seemed fair1 and the needle was used to disseminate the new evangel4 ,when ,mme4 de ,pompadour1 in her little engraving1 the proofs of which were fought for by her courtiers1 attempted to show ,the ,genius of the ,arts ,protecting ,france1 she set no very dangerous example1 and only proved one thing--that the said ,genius did not so carefully protect the kingdom as to exclude the possibility of platitude4 ,but when the habitus of ,mme4 d'pinay and ,d',holbach set themselves in their little prints to attack certain so-called mental superstitions1 they unconsciously opened the door to people of a more radical turn of mind4 ,before the end of the century prints a good deal more crudely energetic appeared on the same subject2 and the pothouse engravers1 in their turn1 illustrated the ,pre ,duchne1 as the drawing-room engravers had illustrated the ,essai sur les ,murs and the ,encyclopdie4 ,although the engraving of illustrations1 or at least light subjects1 was1 in the eighteenth century1 almost the only sort practised in ,france1 even by the most eminent artists1 some of these imparted to their productions a severer significance1 and an appearance more in harmony with that of former work4 ,several--pupils of ,nicolas ,henri ,tardieu1 or of ,dupuis--resisted with much constancy the encroachment of the fashionable style1 and passed on to their scholars of all nations those teachings they had received in their youth4 ,the ,germans1 ,joseph ,wagner1 ,martin ,preisler1 ,schmidt1 ,john ,george ,wille2 the ,italian1 ,porporati2 the ,spaniards1 ,carmona and ,pascal ,mols2 the ,englishmen1 ,strange1 ,ingram1 ,ryland1 and others1 came1 at close intervals1 for instruction or improvement in this school4 ,in ,paris they published plates of various degrees of excellence2 but1 in the greater part of these1 the nationality and personal sentiment of their authors are obliterated in acquired habits of taste and handling4 ,wille's prints1 for instance--those even which have most contributed to his fame1 ,paternal ,instruction1 after ,terburg1 or the ,dutchwoman ,knitting1 after ,mieris--might just as well1 for anything one sees to the contrary1 have been the work of a ,french engraver of the same period4 ,they only differ from plates bearing the name of ,beauvarlet or of ,daull in a certain ,teutonic excess of coldness in the handling2 in a somewhat staid1 and1 as it were1 metallic stiffness of arrangement4 ,carmona's ,franois ,boucher1 and his ,colin de ,vermont1 after ,roslin1 and ,porporati's ,tancrde et ,clorinde1 after ,carle ,vanloo1 have still less of the stamp of originality4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ib4--,,porporati4 ,susannah4 ,after ,santerre4 ,finally1 with the exception of ,ryland1 by reason of the particular process he employed1 and of which we shall presently have to speak--and especially of ,strange1 who has his own peculiar mode of feeling1 and a sort of merit peculiar to himself--none of the ,english engravers trained in the ,french school fail to show the signs of close relationship4 ,engravers of more original talent must be looked for neither amongst historical nor portrait engravers1 nor even amongst engravers of genre4 ,for information as to the state of the art outside of ,france1 and apart from the ,french school1 we must rather turn to the illustrations of books and almanacs engraved by ,chodowiecki at ,dantzic or ,berlin1 or to the vast plates from ancient ,roman monuments etched--not without a certain rhetorical emphasis--by ,piranesi4 ,as for other second or third rate foreign engravers of the period1 as for those ragionevoli 7as ,vasari would have called them7 whose work1 if undeserving of oblivion1 is likewise undeserving of attentive examination1 we shall have done our part if we mention certain amongst them3 as ,j4 ,houbraken1 who worked at ,dordrecht2 ,domenichino ,cunego1 of ,rome2 ,weirotter1 of ,vienna2 and ,fernando ,selma1 of ,madrid4 ,meanwhile1 in ,france and other countries1 by royal command1 or at the expense of rich amateurs1 important series of prints were being published in commemoration of public events1 or in illustration of famous collections of painting and sculpture4 ,the first of the latter order was the ,galerie de ,versailles1 begun by ,charles ,simoneau1 continued by ,mass1 and only finished in #ageb after twenty-eight consecutive years of labour4 ,it was speedily succeeded by the ,cabinet de ,crozat and the ,peintures de l',htel ,lambert2 and a little later the example of ,france was followed by other countries1 and one after the other there appeared1 in ,italy1 ,germany1 and ,england1 the ,museo ,pio ,clementino1 the ,dresden ,gallery1 the catalogue of the ,bruhl collection1 and the publications of ,boydell--all such magnificent works as do honour to the second half of the eighteenth century4 ,finally1 thanks to ,vivars and ,balechou1 the engraving of landscape began to rival historical engraving1 to which it had before been considered as merely accessory4 ,the honour of having created it belongs to the ,french4 ,it is too often forgotten that they were the first to excel in it1 and that but for the practice of ,vivars1 ,england to whom the merit of initiative is usually attributed might never have boasted of ,woollett and his pupils4 ,since ,claude ,lorraine and ,gaspard ,dughet1 the ,french school had produced few painters of pure landscape--none of first-rate ability4 ,the first to restore to the neglected art a something of its pristine brilliance was ,joseph ,vernet4 ,an observer1 but one rather clever than sincere1 he is certainly wanting in the strength and gravity which are characteristics of the great masters4 ,in his work there is more intelligence than deep feeling1 and more elegance than true beauty4 ,like the descriptive poetry of the time1 it shows us ,nature a trifle too sleek and shiny1 and a little over-emphasised2 she is rather a theme for discourse than a model to be lovingly studied as a source of inspiration4 ,yet even where the truth is thus arbitrarily treated1 it retains under ,vernet's brush sufficient charm1 if not to move1 at least to interest and to please2 so that the success of this brilliant artist1 and the influence he exerted on the ,french school and on public taste1 are easily understood4 ,in the lofty position which his talent had won him1 ,joseph ,vernet was more capable than any other painter of giving a happy impulse to the art of engraving2 and1 indeed1 the landscape engravers formed by him were masters of the genre4 ,we have mentioned ,balechou and ,vivars4 ,the former1 at first a pupil of ,lpici1 began by engraving portraits1 the best known of which1 a full-length of ,augustus ,,iii41 ,king of ,poland1 brought upon its author the shame of a fitting punishment4 ,convicted of having detained a certain number of the first proofs for his own profit2 ,balechou was struck off the list of the ,acadmie1 and obliged to retire to ,arles1 his native town1 and thence to ,avignon1 where he took to landscape engraving4 ,there it was that he executed after ,joseph ,vernet his ,baigneuses1 his ,calme1 and his ,la ,tempte4 ,in his latter years he returned to history1 and executed after ,carle ,vanloo his tiresome ,sainte ,genevive1 which was once so loudly vaunted1 which even now is not unadmired1 and which really might be a masterpiece1 if technical skill and excessive ease of handling were all the art4 ,though1 unlike ,vivars1 he did not teach the practice of landscape in ,england1 ,balechou contributed enormously by his works to the education of the ,english engravers2 and the best of them1 ,woollett1 confessed that he produced his ,fishing with a proof of the ,frenchman's ,la ,tempte always before his eyes4 ,as for ,vivars1 he engraved in ,paris a number of plates after ,joseph ,vernet and the ,old ,masters1 and then1 preceding ,de ,loutherbourg and many others of his nation1 he migrated to ,london4 ,he took with him a new art1 as ,hollar had done a century before1 and founded that school of landscape engravers whose talents were destined to constitute1 even to our own time1 the chief glory of ,english engraving4 ,but before his pupils and imitators could take possession after him of this vast domain1 engraving in ,england had developed considerably1 in another direction1 under the influence of two distinguished artists1 ,hogarth and ,reynolds1 born at an interval of twenty-five years from one another4 ,the son of a printer's reader1 who apprenticed him to a goldsmith1 ,william ,hogarth spent almost all his youth in obscurity and poverty4 ,at twenty he was engraving business cards for ,london tradesmen2 some years later he was sign-painting1 and was wearing himself out in work entirely unworthy of him1 when he forced the attention of the public by the publication of a satirical print1 the heroes of which were well known and easily recognised4 ,his success being presently confirmed by other compositions of the same sort1 he profited by the fact to apply his talent to more serious work4 ,he soon acquired a reputation1 enriched himself by marrying the daughter of ,sir ,james ,thornhill1 the king's painter1 and remained till his death 7#agfd7 one of the most eminent men of his country4 ,both as painter and engraver ,hogarth was a deep student of art1 on which he has left some commendable writings2 but he never succeeded in fulfilling all its conditions4 ,extravagantly pre-occupied with the philosophical significance with which he purposes to endow his work1 he does not always see when he has gone far enough in the exposition of his idea3 he darkens it with commentary2 he becomes unintelligible by sheer insistence on intelligibility4 ,there are allegories of his in which1 still striving after ingenuity1 he has piled detail upon detail till the result is confusion worse confounded4 ,but when no excess of analysis has decomposed his primary idea to nothingness1 by directing the attention elsewhere1 ,hogarth strikes home1 and compasses most powerful effects4 ,his series of prints1 in which are storied the actions of one or more persons--his ,marriage la ,mode1 his ,rake's ,progress1 his ,harlot's ,progress1 his ,industry and ,idleness--the last a sort of double biography representing the different lives of two apprentices1 one of whom becomes ,lord ,mayor of ,london1 whilst the other dies at ,tyburn--all these engraved by himself1 partly in etching and partly in line1 are1 as regards the execution1 by no means irreproachable2 are frequently1 indeed1 not even good3 but in expression and gesture they are nearly always of startling truth1 while the moral meaning1 the innermost spirit of every scene1 is felt and rendered with the keenest sagacity4 ,at the very time when the genius of ,richardson was working a like revolution in literature1 ,hogarth--and herein lies his chief merit--was introducing domestic drama into art4 ,in ,england and elsewhere the painter-engraver and the novelist1 both creators of the style in which they worked1 have had a crowd of imitators2 but they cannot be said to have met with rivals anywhere4 ,the genius of ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds is of a totally different order4 ,in the sense of consisting in the sentiment of effect and the masterly arrangement of tones it is essentially picturesque1 and presents such a boldness of character as engravers could easily appreciate and reproduce4 ,there is no far-fetched significance1 no accessories tending to destroy the unity of the whole4 ,on the contrary1 the work proceeds by synthesis2 it is all largely schemed1 and built up in masses where the details are scarcely indicated4 ,the expression lies not so much in niceties of physiognomy as in the whole attitude of the sitters and the characteristic pose and contour of the faces represented4 ,the painter's imagination is brilliant rather than delicate2 sometimes1 indeed1 it degenerates into bad taste and eccentricity4 ,but far more frequently it gives his attitudes an air of ease and originality1 and the general aspect of his portraits breathes a perfect dignity4 ,the vigorous contrasts1 the freedom and wealth of colour which are their primary characteristics1 as they are those of ,gainsborough's work likewise1 are qualities to whose translation the free and flowing stroke of the graver is hardly fitted1 but which mezzotint would naturally render with ease and success4 ,and1 as we have said before1 it is to the influence of the famous painter that must be attributed the immense extension of the latter process in ,england during the latter part of the eighteenth century4 ,the landscape and mezzotint engravers began1 therefore1 to vitalise the ,english school3 the former especially lent it real importance by their talent4 ,from #agfj or thereabouts ,woollett published1 after ,richard ,wilson or after ,claude1 those admirable works which1 on account of their suave harmony of effect1 their transparency of atmosphere1 and their variableness of colour1 are less like engravings than pictures4#de ,shortly afterwards he completed his fame by work of another sort3 the reproduction1 first1 of ,west's ,death of ,wolfe1 and then of his ,battle of ,la ,hogue1 the ,american's best picture1 and the finest historical plate ever engraved in ,england4 ,lastly about the same time1 ,robert ,strange1 a pupil of ,philippe ,le ,bas1 engraved in line1 after ,correggio and ,van ,dyck1 the ,saint ,jerome and the ,charles ,i42 as well as other prints after these masters1 which are quite as charming1 and should1 indeed1 be unreservedly admired if the correctness of their drawing were only equal to their elegance of modelling and flexibility of tone4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ic4--,,woollett4 ,landscape4 ,after ,g4 ,smith4 ,so much progress accomplished in so few years attracted the attention of statesmen and of the ,english ,government4 ,they saw it was time to cease from paying tribute to the superiority of ,french engravers1 and to allow those talents to develop in ,london which had till then been sent to school in ,paris4 ,george ,,iii4 had just founded the ,royal ,academy 7,jan41 #agfi71 with ,reynolds for its first ,president4 ,he determined still further to strengthen the impulse of art by countenancing great undertakings in engraving2 and as he wished the country to reap as much commercial benefit as honour in the matter1 he granted bounties on the exportation of ,english engravings1 while the importation of ,french work was taxed with enormous duties4 ,in this way the progress of national art became a political question1 and every one hastened to second the king's views4 ,woollett's plates had been largely subscribed for before publication1 and the illustrated editions of the travels of ,cook and ,sir ,joseph ,banks were taken up in a few days4 ,finally1 when it was proposed to engrave ,copley's ,death of ,chatham1 the subscription at once ran up to #c1fjj2 and when1 the first proofs having been taken1 the plate was returned to the engraver1 he made almost as much more in less than two years4 ,nor did the fever of protection in any wise abate for that4 ,on the contrary1 it called a number of talents into being1 and attracted to ,london a crowd of foreigners1 all sure of the encouragement which began to fail them elsewhere4 ,cipriani1 ,angelica ,kauffmann1 ,catherine ,prestel1 the ,swiss ,moser and his daughter1 and a hundred other painters or engravers1 came in one after another to contribute to the success of the school and the spread of ,english trade4#df ,amongst these adventurers there was one--the ,florentine ,bartolozzi--whose works at once became the fashion1 less1 perhaps1 for any intrinsic merit than because of the novelty of his method4 ,the process called stipple engraving excluded the use of lines and cross hatchings1 and consisted in the arrangement of masses of dots more or less delicate in themselves1 and more or less close in order1 and designed in proportion to their relative distance or nearness1 to render nice gradations of tone1 depth of shadow1 and even completeness of outline4 ,speaking exactly1 this was but an application to the general execution of a work of a process adopted long before by etchers and line engravers as a means of partial execution4 ,jean ,morin1 ,boulanger1 ,grard ,audran himself1 and many others1 had habitually made use of dots to supplement the work of the burin or the needle1 or to effect transitions between their lights and shadows1 or the larger of their outlines and subtler details of their modelling4 ,moreover1 before their time1 ,jan ,lutma1 a ,dutch goldsmith1 invented a method of engraving in dots1 which1 produced by means of his etching needle and aquafortis1 were deepened and enlarged with chisel and hammer3 whence the name of opus mallei bestowed on his results4 ,bartolozzi1 therefore1 and the ,english engravers who1 like ,ryland1 made use of stippling1 did but revive and extend in their own way the boundaries of a method already known4 ,they displayed remarkable skill1 it is true1 but their work1 like the rest of its kind1 displays a feebleness of form that is almost inevitable1 and is touched with a coldness inherent in the very nature of the process4 ,in stipple engraving1 the burin and the dry point are used alternately1 according to the degree of vigour or delicacy required4 ,the parts that are to come light in proof are done with the dry-point2 while those to come dark are covered with dots ploughed deeper with the burin4 ,round the edge of these1 by the mere act of ploughing1 there is raised a rim1 or rampart--technically called a burr--which the engraver1 to regain the ground thus lost1 has to rub down with the burnisher4 ,in this way he goes on dotting and burnishing till he gets a close enough grain4 ,immensely successful during the last years of the eighteenth century1 stipple engraving soon went out of fashion1 not only in ,france1 where it scarce survived the first attempts of ,copia1 but even in ,england1 where the example of ,bartolozzi and ,ryland had been followed with such eager diligence4 ,such1 too1 somewhat later1 was the fate of a somewhat similar process--the crayon engraving1 of which ,gilles ,demarteau1 born in ,lige1 but bred and trained in ,paris1 may be considered1 if not the inventor1 at least the most active1 skilful1 and popular practitioner4#dg ,the object of crayon engraving is to imitate the effect of red or black chalk on a coarse-grained paper1 which1 by the very roughness of its surface1 retains no more than an uneven1 and as it were a disconnected1 impression of the strokes or hatchings laid upon it4 ,in common with stipple engraving1 it renders the loose and broken lines of the originals by substituting a mass of dots for the ordinary work of the burin or the needle4 ,it differs1 however1 from stipple engraving in the method of working1 and even in the nature of the tools employed4 ,the outlines are traced on the varnished copper with a toothed or multi-pointed needle1 while the inner hatchings are made either with the needle in question1 or with what is called a roulette1 which is a steel cylinder bristling with small1 jagged teeth1 and running on a fixed axis4 ,the roulette1 which is provided with a handle1 is so directed that the teeth are brought to bear directly1 and with more or less effect1 on the varnished copper4 ,then the plate is bitten in2 and when the aquafortis has done its part1 the work1 if necessary1 is resumed with the same tools on the bare metal4 ,the first specimens of crayon engraving were presented in #ageg to the ,acadmie ,royale de ,peinture1 which1 an official document informs us1#dh highly approved of the method1 as being well fitted to perpetuate the designs of good masters1 and multiply copies of the best styles of drawings4 ,for the reproduction of drawings1 the new process was certainly better than etching1 at least as practised to that end by the ,count de ,caylus and the ,abb de ,saint-,non4 ,the misfortune was1 that in the eighteenth century as in the first years of the nineteenth1 the crayon engravers appear to have thought far less of perpetuating the designs of good masters than of suiting their choice of originals to the prevailing fashion4 ,as a matter of fact1 however skilful they were in execution1 the only cause served by ,demarteau's innumerable fac-similes was that of the ,bouchers and ,fragonards1 and of kindred experts in the most distinguished school of drawing4 ,reproduced by engraving1 the crayon studies of these persons became the ordinary means of instruction in academies and public schools2 and from the first the popularity of these wretched models was such that1 even after the revolution effected in art by ,david1 on through the ,empire1 and as late as the ,restoration1 art students generally remained subject to the regimen adopted for their predecessors in the days of ,louis ,,xv4 and ,,xvi4 ,then lithography made its appearance1 and in no great while was applied to the production of drawing-copies1 once the monopoly of crayon engraving4 ,nor was this the only quarter from which the method of ,franois and ,demarteau was assailed4 ,by degrees it fell out of use for the production not only of drawing-copies1 but of fac-similes of drawings by the masters for artists and amateurs2 or1 if occasionally practised1 it was--as in the subjects engraved some thirty years back from drawings in the ,louvre and the ,muse de ,lille--with so many modifications1 and in combination with such a number of other processes1 as reduced it from supremacy to the rank1 till worse should befall1 of a mere auxiliary4 ,in our own time it has had its death-blow in the advance of photography2 and as1 after all1 its one object was the presentation of an exact likeness1 the absolute effigy1 of its original1 the preference of a purely mechanical process of reproduction is1 if we consider the certainty of the results1 no more than natural4 ,in proportion as1 by its very nature1 photography is powerless to take the place of engraving1 when the work to be reproduced1 be it picture or mural decoration1 presupposes in the interpreter1 in whatsoever degree1 the power of translating what is before him1 just so far is it capable of fulfilling the one condition imposed upon the copyist of a drawing or an engraving--that of perfect fidelity in imitation4 ,the object attempted by ,franois1 ,demarteau1 ,bonnet1 and others--the production by engraving of a sort of optical illusion1 the exact fac-simile of a drawing--had been started before them by ,jean ,christophe ,leblond1 an artist born of ,french parents at ,frankfort1 who1 moreover1 had sought to extend to the imitation of colour what his successors were content to restrict to the imitation of monochrome4 ,very early in the eighteenth century1 ,leblond succeeded in producing prints in several tints1 by a method which he called pastel engraving1 and to which custom has given the more general name of colour engraving4 ,for the second half of this title1 it might1 perhaps1 have been better to use the word printing4 ,what is called colour engraving is not really a special engraving process4 ,its whole originality consists in the production of a single proof from several plates 7generally four71 in the preparation of which the rocker1 the roulette1 and sometimes even the burin1 have been used4 ,from these plates1 each inked with a single colour1 the effect of which is relieved or modified by the subsequent addition of those tints with which the other three are covered1 there results in the proof1 by the use of points of correspondence1 an ensemble in colour which is similar in appearance to that of painting in pastel1 in water-colour1 or in gouache4 ,this was pretty much the process1 and the results were in some sort comparable with those obtained by chromo-lithography4 ,the older method had1 however1 the advantage of the other in that1 by the very variety of the preparation to which the plate was subjected1 its results were not so liable to present the appearance1 either coarse or dull1 of common hand-tinted work4 ,some of ,leblond's engravings1 particularly a large1 half-length ,louis ,,xv41 enable us to estimate to the full the capacities of his invention4 ,leblond1 indeed1 must be counted an inventor1 inasmuch as it was his to discover a secret which1 before him1 had been only dimly foreseen1 or at most half-guessed4 ,still1 the essays in the first years of the seventeenth century of the ,dutchman ,lastmann1 and a little later of ,seghers the ,fleming1 should not be completely overlooked2 nor would it be just to refuse recognition to the practical improvements made in colour engraving1 after ,leblond1 by ,gautier ,dagoty1 in ,paris1 and by ,taylor1 in ,london4 ,in proportion to the relative importance of the two discoveries1 ,leblond played the same part in the history of the colour process as ,daguerre in the history of heliography4 ,they each effected so great an advance as to close the period of groping and darkness1 and to some extent determine the course of progress4 ,but it does not follow1 therefore1 that they owed nothing to the attempts of their predecessors2 and if their claim to inventors' honours is fairly established1 it is because they solved a problem they were by no means the first to attack4 ,leblond1 indeed1 got nothing from his discovery but the honour of making it4 ,he sought in vain to turn it to account in ,london1 and succeeded no better in ,paris4 ,in the latter city he lived for some years in great distress1 and in #agda he died there1 in the hospital4 ,some years after the invention of colour engraving1 another sort of engraving1 or rather another sort of pictorial reproduction1 the method called au lavis1 was invented1 and very skilfully used from the outset1 by ,jean ,baptiste ,leprince2 and in no great while the series of innovations in the practice of the art1 from the end of the seventeenth century1 was completed by the invention of aquatint4 ,the first of these two processes is apparently of extreme simplicity4 ,the line once engraved and bitten in1 as in ordinary etching1 it only consisted in brushing the plate with acid1 as a draughtsman washes in on paper with sepia or ,indian ink4 ,the preliminary work1 however1 required a great deal of care and skill1 and even a certain amount of scientific knowledge4 ,the particular quality of the copper1 the composition of the varnishes and acids1 and many other conditions impossible to discuss in detail1 made the new process somewhat difficult of employment2 and before long the ardour of those practitioners who had essayed to imitate ,leprince's results was very sensibly diminished4 ,in spite of the value of these results1 and the personal skill of the inventor2 in spite1 too1 of the technical explanations contained in the ,plan du ,trait de la ,gravure au ,lavis presented by him 7#agej7 to the ,acadmie ,royale1 it was evident that the ,french engravers thought lightly of ,leprince's discovery1 and did not care to investigate its capabilities4 ,it only got a fresh start in ,france when1 notably modified and improved by the initiative of foreign engravers1 it had been transformed in ,london into what is known as aquatint engraving4 ,then1 however1 in the hands of ,debucourt1#di and of ,jazet later on1 it acquired a popularity all the greater that its productions1 by their very nature and quality1 were more intimately in harmony with the inspiration and style of fashionable art4 ,jazet1 for instance1 contributed greatly to the triumph of aquatint in ,france1 by applying it1 from the first years of the ,restoration1 to the interpretation of the works of ,horace ,vernet4 ,such plates as ,le ,bivouac du ,colonel ,moncey1 the ,barrire de ,clichy1 the ,soldat ,laboureur1 and many others1 were tolerated among ,frenchmen for the sake of the associations they awakened at least as much as for their artistic merit4 ,it is possible that since then the engraver has reckoned a little too much on the world-wide reputation of his painter2 or it may be that he has been somewhat too conscious of the advantages of a rapid and facile method1 and has sacrificed the ideal of delicacy and correctness to the enhancement of a reputation for fertility4 ,certain it is that ,jazet1 as is proved by his early engravings1 and especially the ,barrire de ,clichy1 was more capable than any one else of raising work in aquatint to the level of art2 and it is much to be regretted that his somewhat careless ease should have hindered the full development of his talent4 ,it is still more to be regretted that1 in spite of the laudable efforts of ,messrs4 ,prvost1 ,girard1 and others to maintain the process in the better way1 it should have been dishonoured and deprived of all but a purely commercial importance by the production of multitudes of plates1 whose only merit is their cheapness4 ,if we consider the so-called ,biblical scenes done in aquatint for exportation1 the heroines of romance1 the half-naked women described 7by way of commentary7 as ,love1 ,souvenir1 ,pleasure1 ,desire1 and all the terms of the erotic vocabulary1 it is hard to say whether the intention or the execution is the more unpleasant4 ,what is certain is that such things have nothing to do with art except as examples of its degradation and destruction4 ,that section of the public sensible of their charm is certainly not that which is impressed by beauty1 and it is useless to care about winning its approbation2 but when ugliness is everywhere it is to be feared that everybody may grow used to the sight1 and forget to look elsewhere4 ,the danger to which pure line engraving is thus exposed by the deplorable exigencies of competition is not the only one which threatens the art4 ,a glance at its several phases since #ahjj and at its present state is enough to show that the line of talents has never once been interrupted2 that those of to-day are every whit as vigorous and accomplished as those of the past2 but that for opportunities of displaying their full power1 and being appreciated at their true worth they have not seldom to wait in vain4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,engraving ,,in ,,the ,,nineteenth ,,century4 ,at the beginning of the nineteenth century some of the most celebrated artists of the ,french school of painting belonged1 by the nature of their talent as well as by the date of their chief successes1 to the ante-revolutionary period4 ,greuze1 ,fragonard1 ,moreau1 ,mme4 ,vige-,lebrun1 ,vien even1 notwithstanding his intentions of reform1 ,regnault and ,vincent1 in spite of their influence as professors on the new generation--all seemed rather to recall the past than to herald the future4 ,one man1 ,louis ,david1 personified the progress of the epoch4 ,his pictures1 ,les ,horaces1 and the ,brutus1 had appeared some years before1 and the approaching exhibition of ,les ,sabines was impatiently expected4 ,at this time the younger artists and the public unanimously regarded ,david as the regenerator of national art and a master justly supreme4 ,architecture1 painting1 furniture1 even fashion in dress1 were all subjected to his absolute sway2 everything was done in imitation of the antique1 as understood and interpreted by him4 ,under the pretexts of pure beauty and a chaste style1 nothing but a soulless body1 a sort of coloured statue1 was represented on canvas2 while sculpture became no more than an imitation of ,greek or ,roman statuary4 ,since ,lebrun1 indeed1 no single influence had so completely tyrannised over ,french taste4 ,engraving1 though fated like the other arts to accept the dictatorship of ,david1 was at any rate the first to throw off his yoke4 ,before the ,restoration1 whilst the painter of ,marat1 then painter to the ,emperor1 was still in the fulness of his power1 the great ,italians1 whose pictures crowded the ,louvre1 had already been interpreted with more respect for the memory of the old manner than submission to the requirements of the newer style4 ,the most talented of these new artists1 ,boucher-,desnoyers1 when working at his ,belle ,jardinire1 after ,raphael1 or his ,vierge aux ,rochers1 after ,leonardo1 probably thought much less of contemporary work than of the ,french engravers of the seventeenth century2 while on their part ,bervic and ,tardieu1 who had long before given proof of their power1 faithfully maintained the great traditions3 the one in an austerity of execution and a firmness of touch hereditary in his family1 the other in his scientific ease of handling4 ,these three were of the race of the older masters1 and their work1 unjustly forgotten some years later during the rage for the ,english manner1 deserves a better fate than to be confounded with the cold and formal prints published in the ,france of the ,first ,empire4 ,the engravings after ,david1 by popularising his work1 obtained some success in their day1 but have failed to secure a lasting reputation4 ,the fault1 however1 is not altogether with the engravers3 in spite of the apparent conscientiousness of the painter1 his real indecision of method must count for something in the mediocre achievements of his interpreters4 ,free to impose his own system on all other artists1 ,david might have enforced his artistic authority on his contemporaries2 and even if it were beyond his power to restore the ,french school of engraving1 he might at least have regenerated its principles1 and1 combining separate efforts under the synthesis of his own personal conception1 have breathed into it a fresh spirit of unity4 ,this he never attempted2 and it is even hard to guess at what he expected from his engravers4 ,it might be supposed that his own fondness for precision of form would have led him to require from them insistence as to the drawing1 and not much attention to colour and effect2 yet most of the prints after his pictures--amongst others those by ,morel and ,massard--are heavy in tone and feeble in drawing4 ,there is in them no trace either of the precise manner of ,david1 or of the large method of the old school2 it is therefore not in these commonplace works1 and still less in the barren engravings composing the great ,commission d'gypte1 that we must look for signs of such talent as then existed in ,france4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #id4--;,,alexander ,,tardieu4 ,the ,earl of ,arundel4 ,after ,van ,dyck4 ,the few painters who1 like ,regnault1 were more or less independent of ,david's influence1 or1 like ,prud'hon1 had ventured to create an entirely original method1 were admired by so small a public that their pictures were not generally reproduced in engraving1 and thus could do little for the progress of the art4 ,some1 however1 of ,prud'hon's drawings and pictures met1 under the ,directory and the ,empire1 with excellent interpreters in ,copia and in ,barthlemy ,roger2 while in the last years of the eighteenth century ,bervic's engraving of ,regnault's ducation d',achille had obtained at least as much success as the original had won in the ,salon of #aghc4 ,to give a companion to this justly celebrated piece1 ,bervic soon after published his ,enlvement de ,djanire1 after ,guido4 ,this work1 to which the judges of the ,decennial ,competition awarded the prize in preference to any engraving published in ,france from #ahjj to #ahaj1 by confirming the engraver's reputation1 caused his fellow-craftsmen to return once more to the old path of progress4 ,it must not1 however1 be supposed that ,bervic did not himself diverge somewhat from the way of the masters3 it may even be said that he was always more inclined to skirt it than to follow it resolutely4 ,at the outset he was not sufficiently alive to the perils of facility2 and later on he was apt to attach too much importance to certain quite material qualities4 ,yet it must be added that he never went so far as to entirely sacrifice essentials to accessories1 and that more than once--in his fine full-length of ,louis ,,xvi4 for instance--he displayed an ability all the more laudable as the original was by no means inspiring4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ie4--;,,bervic4 ,l'ducation d',achille4 ,after ,regnault4 ,from the engraving it is hard to suspect the mediocrity of ,callet's picture4 ,this1 now at ,versailles1 is insipidly coloured and loosely and clumsily drawn2 the print1 on the contrary1 is to be admired for its solid appearance1 and its easy yet unostentatious handling4 ,lace1 satin1 velvet1 all accessories1 indeed1 are treated with a largeness of touch by no means at variance with delicacy1 and the general tone is harmoniously luminous4 ,here and there1 however1 is already visible a certain artifice of manner which threatens to degenerate into an unwise cultivation of fine line1 and end in an abuse of skill4 ,this1 indeed1 is what happened4 ,bervic1 henceforth1 thought of little else but dexterity1 and ended in his ,laocoon1 perhaps the best known of all his works1 by a display of common technical fireworks1 to a certain extent surprising1 but by no means to be unreservedly admired4 ,the care with which he set himself to imitate the grain of marble by minute workmanship is only trifling with his subject2 and though a group of statues cannot be treated in the same way as figures painted on canvas1 it was more important1 and more desirable in every respect1 to reproduce the character and style of the original than to imitate the substance in which it was wrought4 ,moreover1 in the attempt so to interpret his model1 ,bervic has defeated his own purpose4 ,by a multitude of details1 and an abuse of half-lights intended to bring out the slightest accidents of form and modelling1 he has only succeeded in depriving the general aspect of brilliancy and unity4 ,far removed1 indeed1 was such a method from that of the ,old ,masters1 and ,bervic lived long enough to change his mind4 ,i have missed the truth1 he declared in his old age1 and if ,i could begin life again1 ,i should do nothing ,i have done4 ,there he wronged himself4 ,as happens often in tardy repentances1 he remembered past errors only to exaggerate them2 but we must be juster to the engraver of the ,louis ,,xvi4 and ,l'ducation d',achille than he was to himself1 and not forget that much of his work should be excluded from the sweeping condemnation which he launched upon the whole4 ,whilst ,bervic was counted the greatest ,french engraver1 ,italy boasted of a man1 his inferior in reality1 but whom1 in the existing dearth of talent1 his countrymen agreed to thrust into the glorious eminence of a master4 ,like ,canova1 his senior by a few years only1 ,raphael ,morghen had the good fortune to be born at the right time4 ,both second-rate artists1 they would have passed almost unnoticed in a more favoured century2 as it was1 in the absence of contemporary rivals1 their compatriots accepted their accidental superiority as a proof of absolute merit4 ,moreover1 by merely submitting in some sort to the dictates of opinion and of public taste1 their popularity and success were easily assured4 ,the writings of ,winckelmann and ,raphael ,mengs had brought antique statues and ,italian pictures of the sixteenth century once more into favour2 so that ,canova1 by imitating the former more or less cleverly1 and ,morghen by engraving the latter1 could neither of them fail to please1 and it is especially to their choice of subjects that we must attribute the great reputation they both enjoyed4 ,morghen1 the pupil and son-in-law of ,volpato1 whose weak engravings from the ,stanze1 in the ,vatican1 are known to every one1 shared with that feeble artist1 and with ,longhi1 the privilege of reproducing admirable paintings1 which had either never been engraved1 or not since the time of the masters4 ,this alone gives a certain value to his plates1 faulty as they are4 ,assuredly1 for instance1 the engraving of ,leonardo's ,last ,supper reproduces no more than the general lines of the composition and the attitude of the figures4 ,we look at it as we might listen to an inferior actor reading verses from ,polyeucte or ,athalie1 because the inspiration of the master is still to be felt1 in spite of the intermediary of expression2 only the sort of beauty inherent in the conception and arrangement of the original remains in this piece of ,morghen's4 ,what can be said of the head of the ,saviour1 like those of the ,apostles1 restored by the engraver1 and unillumined by the faintest glimmer of sentiment8 ,how is it possible1 examining the work in detail1 not to be offended by the arrogance of the technique and the display of mere mechanical facility1 when one remembers the incomparable accuracy of ,leonardo and his perfection of style8 ,but in thus substituting his own manner1 and the caprices of his individual taste1 for the manner and the taste of the painter of ,the ,last ,supper1 ,morghen only treated this great master as he was in the habit of treating others4 ,whether it was his lot to interpret ,raphael or ,poussin1 ,andrea del ,sarto or ,correggio1 he had but one uniform method for the most conflicting types2 and to his tricks of hand he subjected1 without remorse1 the inspired grace or the noble energy of whatever he copied4 ,once1 however1 it was given him to entertain higher aspirations1 and to study more conscientiously the particular characteristics of the work he was to reproduce4 ,it would be impossible without deliberate injustice to avoid recognising merit in his plate from ,van ,dyck's ,francesco de ,moncada1 as much on the score of intelligent fidelity as of skilful execution4 ,but1 for his other works1 could one1 without equal injustice1 condone the inadequacy of expression and drawing1 the systematic contempt of all effort1 the many evidences of vain and self-confident ease which refuses to be humbled even in the presence of genius8 ,morghen preserved till the end the brilliant reputation which his extreme fertility and the complacent patriotism of the ,italians had won for him at the outset4 ,born in ,naples1 he settled in ,florence1 whither he had been allured by the ,grand ,duke ,ferdinand ,,iii41 and where he remained during the ,french occupation1 and1 much less resentful than ,alfieri1 repulsed neither the homage nor the favour of the foreigner4 ,on the return of the ,grand ,duke1 his old protector1 he was still less ready to yield to the ,neapolitans1 who coveted the honour of recalling the renowned artist to his native country4 ,when at length he died in #ahcc1 all ,italy was stirred at the news1 and innumerable sonnets1 the usual expression of public regret or enthusiasm1 celebrated the undying glory of the illustrious engraver of ',the ,last ,supper4' ,johann ,godard ,mller1 who early in life had had nearly as widespread a recognition in ,germany as ,morghen in ,italy1 departed this world in lonely misery three years before the ,neapolitan4 ,beyond the walls of ,stuttgart1 scarce any one remembered the existence or the brief renown of the engraver of the ,madonna della ,sedia and the ,battle of ,bunker's ,hill4 ,for he had long ceased to trouble about his work or his reputation1 and lived only to mourn a son1 who in #ahaf died at the very time when1 in his turn1 he was about to become one of the most distinguished engravers of his country4 ,from childhood this son1 ,christian ,frederick ,mller1 had been devoted to his father's art4 ,his first attempts were successful enough to warrant his early admittance to the school of engraving recently founded at ,stuttgart by ,duke ,charles of ,wurtemberg4 ,we have seen that during the second half of the eighteenth century many ,german engravers came to ,paris for training1 and that many remained there4 ,expelled from ,france1 their adopted country1 by the ,revolution1 they returned to ,germany1 and the institution of a school of engraving in ,stuttgart was one result of their expulsion4 ,but by #ahjb many of the fugitives were already back in ,paris1 and the studios1 closed for ten years1 once more opened their doors to numerous pupils4 ,frederick ,mller1 then barely twenty1 followed his father's example1 and in his turn went to perfect himself under ,french masters4 ,commended to the good offices of ,wille1 then past eighty1 who felt it an honour to have taught ,johann ,godard ,mller1 and introduced by him1 the young man was soon in relation with ,bervic1 ,tardieu1 and ,desnoyers2 and without constituting himself a thorough-going imitator of these fine craftsmen1 he yet borrowed enough from them to be considered1 if not their rival1 at least one of their most faithful disciples4 ,the plates he engraved for the ,muse ,franais1 published by ,laurent and ,robillard1#ej show laudable submission to the principles of the masters and an already sound experience of art2 but it is in the ,madonna di ,san ,sisto1 in which he seems to have arrived at maturity1 that his talent may be fully measured4 ,before undertaking this plate1 the young engraver went to ,italy to study other work by the ,divine ,painter1 and to prepare himself for the interpretation of the picture in the ,dresden ,gallery by drawing from the ,vatican frescoes4 ,on his return to ,germany1 he at once applied himself to the task1 and pursued it with such ardour that1 towards the end of #ahae1 that is in three years1 he had brought it to an end4 ,the ,madonna di ,san ,sisto deserves to rank with the finest line engravings of the beginning of the century4 ,it has long been popular2 but renown came too slowly for the engraver1 and unhappily he lacked the patience to await its coming4 ,when ,mller had finished his work1 he determined to publish it himself1 hoping to gain not only honour but legitimate profit4 ,he was exhausted by hard work1 but he trusted to meet with the reward which he felt to be due to such continual effort1 and to meet with it at once4 ,time passed1 however1 and the young engraver1 a prey to feverish anxiety1 began to rail at the indifference of his contemporaries4 ,he had soon to make arrangements with a publisher1 that the fruit of his labours might not be altogether lost4 ,several amateurs then bought proofs1 but there was as yet no general popularity for a print the appearance of which1 in the expectation of its author1 should have had all the importance of a public event4 ,so many disappointments completed the ruin of his health1 and at last affected his reason4 ,in a paroxysm of excitement1 ,mller stabbed himself with a burnisher4 ,shortly after his ,sistine ,madonna obtained that great success which the poor artist had fondly anticipated4 ,the publisher grew rich upon the proofs2 and the name of the young engraver who had made too great haste to sell them was with justice acclaimed throughout ,europe4 ,the works of ,bervic1 of ,desnoyers1 of ,morghen and of ,mller1 may be said to represent the state of engraving in ,france1 in ,italy1 and in ,germany during the early years of the nineteenth century4 ,they show that at that time the three schools professed the same doctrines1 or1 at least1 followed the same masters2 but this seeming conformity was not destined to be of long duration4 ,the principles of art were soon modified by the influence of new ideas1 and the ,german engravers 7taking the lead in this change of aim7 entered the path which they are still following4 ,at the time of ,mller's death1 the influence of ,goethe and ,schiller on ,german literature had begun to extend to the pictorial arts4 ,passionate study of the ,middle ,ages took the place of the worship of antiquity1 and whilst the classical dictionary was still the only gospel for ,french painters1 those beyond the ,rhine were already drinking inspiration from ,christian tradition and national legend4 ,this was a happy reaction in so far as it reinvested art with that ethereal character which is indispensable to its higher developments2 but1 on the other hand1 rapidly degenerating into mere archology1 the movement ended by oppressing and imprisoning talent under invariable formulas4 ,a few years sufficed to reduce ,german art to such a condition that asceticism became the established rule4 ,since then ,overbeck1 ,cornelius1 and ,kaulbach have added the weight of their authority and example1 and continued and perfected the tradition of their forerunners2 and this reformation has been as thorough in ,germany as the far different revolution accomplished by ,david in ,france4 ,the ,german painters having thus laid aside a part of their material resources1 the ,german engravers have been obliged to confine themselves to a translation of the ideal sentiment of their originals4 ,in this task it must be allowed they have perfectly succeeded4 ,they reproduce with singular completeness that generative thought1 and religious1 philosophical1 or literary imagination1 which1 far more than any pictorial idea1 inspires the ,german painter4 ,strictly speaking1 they do not produce engravings3 that is1 they do not produce works in which the burin has sought to render the value of tone1 colour1 chiaroscuro1 or any constituent of a picture save composition and drawing2 they are satisfied to cut in the copper1 with a precision frequently approaching dryness1 the outlines of simple forms2 while1 by way of concession to the true pictorial spirit1 they think it enough to throw in here and there a few suggestions of modelling and light masses of shadow4 ,among the numerous specimens of this extreme reticence of execution1 it is sufficient to mention the ,apostolical ,scenes engraved1 after ,overbeck1 by ,franz ,keller1 ,ludy1 and ,steinfensand2 the plates after ,cornelius1 published at ,carlsruhe and ,munich1 by ,schffer1 ,merz1 and others2 and lastly1 ,thaeter's big ,battle of the ,huns1 after ,kaulbach4 ,although subdivided into smaller classes1 the modern ,german school is composed--at least1 in so far as historical painting and engraving are concerned--of a group of kindred talents1 inspired by abstract reflection rather than the study of reality4 ,nevertheless this main idea has not everywhere been carried out with the same logical rigour4 ,the ,dsseldorf engravers1 for instance1 have not always confined themselves1 like those of ,munich1 to the representation of figures and their accessories1 as mere silhouettes1 strengthened1 if at all1 by the palest of shadows4 ,even more elastic principles have prevailed elsewhere4 ,felsing of ,darmstadt1 ,mendel of ,berlin1 and ,steinla of ,dresden1 have proved by their engravings after ,fra ,bartolommeo1 ,raphael1 and ,holbein1 that they have no notion of denying themselves any of the methods used by the masters of engraving for imitating in the highest perfection the relief and life of objects figured on canvas4 ,but these and other efforts must be considered exceptional4 ,as we have said1 the dominant tendency of ,german art since the reform is rather towards deliberate1 even systematic1 conception than spontaneous expression of sentiment3 it is1 in fact1 the mortification of the eye for the intelligence4 ,in a word1 ,german engravers trust too much to logic and analysis1 and too little to their senses4 ,it is only natural that they should4 ,the qualities lacking in their works are also lacking in the pictures and drawings from which these are engraved4 ,still1 their main principle once admitted1 we must allow that it could not well be pushed to a more logical conclusion4 ,in ,germany1 separate and independent talents do not exist1 as in ,belgium1 ,austria1 ,switzerland1 and ,russia4 ,the end is the same for all1 and is obtained by all in nearly the same degree4 ,in ,england1 also1 engraving1 considered as a whole1 presents an incontestable unity2 nevertheless1 the difference between the schools is great4 ,a trifle hypochondriacal by dint of privations and penance1 ,german art is sustained by a feverish faith which lends to it the animation of life2 while in spite of its flourishing looks1 ,english art is really decayed in constitution4 ,its health is only apparent1 and the least study of its vital sources compels the recognition of its frailty4 ,it has frequently been said that the arts are the expression of the moral tendency of a people4 ,this is doubtless true2 at all events1 it is true of those people for whom the arts have always been a necessity--of ,greece and ,italy1 for example1 where they have been as it were endemic4 ,where1 however1 art has been diffused by contagion--as an epidemic--it may remain quite distinct from national tendencies1 or only represent a part of them1 or even suggest the presence of quite antagonistic influences4 ,strictly speaking1 a school of painting has only existed in ,england since the eighteenth century2 surely its characteristics1 past and present1 are in nowise a spontaneous expression of national feeling8 ,are all its most important achievements--the portraits of ,reynolds1 ,gainsborough1 ,lawrence1 and the landscapes of ,turner--inspired by that practical wisdom1 that spirit of order and love of exactness in everything1 which characterise the ,english equally in private and in public life8 ,on the contrary1 the quest of spurious brilliancy and effect1 exaggerated at the expense of accurate form and precision of style1 is the one tradition of the ,english school of painting2 and in spite of the inventive and tasteful work produced in the first half of the century by artists like ,wilkie1 ,smirke1 and ,mulready1 as of the more recent efforts of the ,pre-,raphaelites1 it would seem as if the school were neither able nor willing to change4 ,the sthetic formula accepted and used1 from one generation to another1 by the ,english painters has influenced--and1 perhaps naturally1 with still more authority--their compatriots the engravers4 ,just now ,english engraving seems careless of further effort4 ,it is as though its innumerable products had nothing whatever to reveal to those who buy them1 and were bought from habit1 and not from taste4 ,it has been seen that ,george ,,iii4 did his utmost to encourage line engraving1 and that the exportation of prints soon became a source of revenue4 ,how could the country neglect those wares which abroad were made so heartily welcome8 ,the aristocracy set the example4 ,men of high social position thought it their duty to subscribe to important publications4 ,in imitation1 or from patriotism1 the middle class in their turn sought to favour the growth of engraving2 and when1 some years later1 it became the fashion to illustrate ,keepsakes and ,books of ,beauty with steel engravings1 their cheapness put them within everybody's reach4 ,people gradually took to having prints in their houses1 just as they harboured superfluities of other kinds2 and1 the custom becoming more and more general1 engravers could be almost certain of the sale of any sort of work4 ,this is still the case4 ,in ,london1 every new print may reckon on a certain number of subscribers4 ,hence the facility of production1 and the constant mechanical improvements tending to shorten the work2 hence1 too1 unfortunately1 the family likeness and purely conventional charm of the ,english prints of the last half-century4 ,a glance at any recent aquatints and mezzotints or into a new book of etchings1 discovers nothing one does not seem to have seen a hundred times before4 ,there are the eternal conflicts of light and darkness1 the eternal contrasts between velvety and pearly textures4 ,in its needless formality1 this trickery resembles that of uninspired and styleless singers4 ,a brief piano passage is followed by a crashing forte2 the whole thing consists in abruptness of contrast1 and depends for success entirely upon surprise4 ,in both cases this element is soon exhausted by too frequent use4 ,the novelty of their appearance might at first impart a certain charm to ,english engravings2 but the unending repetition of the same effect has destroyed their principal merit1 and it is difficult to regard them with attention or interest4 ,it would be unjust1 however1 to confine ourselves to the consideration of the abuse of general methods1 and to say nothing of individual talents4 ,england has produced some remarkable engravers since those in mezzotint formed by ,reynolds and the landscape artists who were ,woollett's pupils4 ,abraham ,raimbach1 for instance1 was a fine workman1 and a better draughtsman than most of his compatriots2 his plates after ,wilkie's ,blind ,man's ,buff1 ,the ,rent-,day1 and ,the ,village ,politicians1 deserve to be classed amongst the most agreeable works of modern engraving4 ,samuel ,william ,reynolds1 in his portraits after many ,english painters1 and his plates from ,gricault1 ,horace ,vernet1 and ,paul ,delaroche1 and ,samuel ,cousins1 in his engravings of ,lawrence's ,master ,lambton1 ,pius ,,vii41 and ,lady ,gower and her ,son1 have succeeded in getting a good deal more from mezzotint than the eighteenth century masters4 ,in spite of the dissimilarity of their talents1 ,raimbach and ,cousins may yet be compared as the last ,english engravers who attempted to invest their work with a character in conformity with the strict conditions of the art4 ,since them the ,london craftsmen have practised more or less skilfully an almost mechanical profession4 ,they have only produced either the thousands of engravings1 which every year proceed from the same source1 or the prints that deal with still less ambitious subjects--animals1 attributes of the chase1 and so forth--on an absurdly large scale4 ,they have1 indeed1 gone so far as to represent life-size dogs1 cats1 and game4 ,there is even a certain plate1 after ,landseer1 whose sole interest is a parrot on its perch1 and which is much larger than the plates that used to be engraved from the largest compositions of the masters4 ,to say the least1 here are errors of taste not to be redeemed by improvements in the manufacture of tools1 nor even by ingenious combinations of the different processes of engraving4 ,however skilful contemporary ,english engravers may be in some respects1 they cannot properly be said to produce works of art2 because they insist on technique to an inordinate degree1 and in like measure reduce almost to nothing the proportions of true art and sentiment4 ,one might1 with still greater reason1 thus explain the mediocrity of ,american prints in the present day4 ,few as they are1 they do not rivet attention as the manifestations of an art which1 young and inexperienced1 is yet vital in its artlessness2 on the contrary1 they are depressing as the products of an art fallen into the sluggishness of old age4 ,it is as though engraving in the ,united ,states had begun in decay--or rather1 it may be1 negatively1 with no tendency to change1 and no impulse to progress4 ,mostly mezzotints or aquatints1 the prints sold in ,new ,york and ,new ,orleans suggest that their authors only wished to appropriate as best they could the present fashions and methods of ,english engraving4 ,as for work in line1 it is almost entirely confined to the embellishment of bank notes and tradesmen's cards4 ,some of its professors are not without technical knowledge and a sort of skill2 and if it were absolutely necessary to find a characteristic specimen of ,american art it should1 perhaps1 be sought amongst works of this sort4 ,in any case1 it is best to reserve a definitive opinion1 and simply to state what ,american engraving is1 and must be1 till a master arise by whose influence and example it may be animated and renewed4 ,if1 after considering the condition of engraving at the beginning of the present century1 one should wish to become acquainted with its subsequent phases1 assuredly one has to admit the pre-eminence of ,french talent4 ,it may even be advanced that ,french engravers have maintained1 and do still maintain1 almost unaided the art of engraving within those limits from which it cannot deviate without the risk of becoming1 as in ,germany1 a language of pure conventionality1 or1 as in ,england1 the hackneyed expression of mere technical dexterity4 ,without doubt1 evidences of broader and more serious talent were not lacking even in that school which some years earlier seemed to have gone to decay4 ,after ,volpato and ,morghen1 and in opposition to their example1 there were ,italian engravers who worked to such purpose as to redeem the honour of the school4 ,the plates by ,toschi and his pupils1 from pictures and frescoes by ,correggio at ,parma2 ,calamatta's ,vu de ,louis ,treize1 after ,ingres2 ,mercuri's ,moissonneurs1 after ,lopold ,robert1 and many prints besides1 either by the same artists or others of their race1 assuredly deserve to rank with the most important achievements of ,french engraving in the first half of the nineteenth century4 ,but the years that have lapsed since their publication1 while barren for ,italy1 have brought a continued harvest to ,france4 ,after the engravers who made their appearance in the last years of the ,restoration their pupils became masters in turn2 and1 in spite of adverse circumstances1 the indifference of a section of the public1 and the increasing popularity of photography1 their zeal seems no more likely to diminish than the value of their work4 ,once1 it is true1 at the most brilliant period of ,english engraving1 the ,french school was not without a moment of hesitation on the part of some1 of disloyalty on that of others4 ,during the ,first ,empire1 the existence of the art movement in ,london in the last years of the active rule of ,george ,,iii4 and the beginning of the ,regency was unsuspected in ,france4 ,the cessation of commercial relations between the two countries left the ,french in such complete ignorance that1 until #ahaf1 the only ,english prints they knew were those by ,strange1 ,ryland1 and ,woollett3 those1 in fact1 published before the end of the eighteenth century4 ,and when1 after the ,restoration1 ,english work first came under the eyes of ,french engravers1 the fascination of its novelty dazzled them more than the splendour of its merit4 ,those who1 like ,tardieu and ,desnoyers1 were especially concerned with loftiness of style and masculine vigour of execution1 were but little moved by such innovations1 if we may judge by the nature of their subsequent publications4 ,the ,ruth and ,boaz1 engraved by the former after ,hersent1 the divers ,madonnas and the ,transfiguration1 engraved by the latter after ,raphael1 do not testify that their belief in the excellence of the old ,french method was at all shaken4 ,but others1 either younger or less stable of conviction1 were soon seduced4 ,like the ,english engravers1 they attempted to unite all the different processes of engraving in their plates2 and they sought1 to the exclusion of all besides1 the easiest way of work1 piquancy of result1 and prettiness everywhere1 even in history4 ,these imitations became more numerous by reason of their first success1 till they threatened the independence of ,french engraving1 which had not been encroached upon since the seventeenth century4 ,the fever1 however1 soon cooled4 ,a happy reaction set in soon after #ahcj1 and continued during the following years2 and infatuation having everywhere been succeeded by reflection1 the misleading qualities of the ,english manner were finally recognised4 ,the ,french school takes counsel with none save itself1 its past1 and its traditions4 ,to this just confidence in its own resources are owing its present superiority to1 and independence of1 other schools1 and1 what is more important still1 its place apart from that mechanical industry which1 with its spurious successes1 its raids upon a territory not its own1 and its pretentious efforts to occupy the place of art1 would seize upon those privileges1 which1 do all it may1 it can never hope to confiscate4 ,of all the engravers who have honoured our epoch not in ,france alone1 but also in other countries1 the first in genius1 as in the general influence he has exerted for nearly half a century1 is certainly ,henriquel--as he called himself in the early part of his career--,henriquel-,dupont in the second half4 ,but he too1 it would seem1 had his hours of indecision4 ,perhaps1 in some of his early works1 certain traces may be discovered of a leaning towards the ,english manner1 certain tendencies of doubtful orthodoxy2 but1 at any rate1 they have never developed into manifest errors3 they have1 at the most1 resulted in venial sins1 which themselves have been abundantly atoned4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #if4--;,,henriquel4 ,cromwell 7,etching74 ,after ,paul ,delaroche4 ,henriquel is a master in the widest acceptation of the word3 a master1 too1 of the stamp of those in the past of whom the ,french have the greatest right to be proud4 ,the masters of the seventeenth century have scarcely left us plates at once so largely and so delicately treated1 as his ,hmicycle du ,palais des ,beaux-,arts1 his ,mose ,expos sur le ,nil1 and his ,strafford1 after ,paul ,delaroche2 his admirable sketch in etching of the ,pilgrims of ,emmaus1 after ,veronese2 and the portrait of ,m4 ,bertin1 after ,ingres2 and these are but a few4 ,we have1 besides the ,van ,dyck1 ,une ,dame et sa ,fille1 engraved some years before the ,abdication de ,gustave ,wasa1 after ,hersent1 and the ,marquis de ,pastoret1 after ,paul ,delaroche2 the ,christ ,consolateur1 engraved rather later1 after ,scheffer2 and1 among less important1 though certainly not less meritorious works1 the portraits engraved now with the scientific ease of the burin1 now with the light and delicate touch of the needle3 the ,pasta1 the botanist ,desfontaines1 ,desenne the draughtsman1 the ,brongniart1 the ,tardieu1 the ,carle ,vernet1 the ,sauvageot1 the ,scheffer1 the ,mansard et ,perrault1 the ,mirabeau la ,tribune1 the ,rathier1 and1 latest of all1 the charming little ,pre ,pettot4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ig4--;,,henriquel4 ,the ,marquis de ,pastoret4 ,after ,paul ,delaroche4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ih4--;,,henriquel4 ,alexander ,brongniart4 ,after a ,drawing by the ,engraver4 ,in these--and in how many besides8 for the work of the master does not fall short of ninety pieces1 besides lithographs and a great deal in pastel and crayon--,henriquel proves himself not only a trained draughtsman and finished executant1 but1 as it were1 still more a painter than any of his immediate predecessors4 ,bervic--whose pupil he became1 after some years in the studio of ,pierre ,gurin--was able to teach him to overcome the practical difficulties of the art1 but the influence of the engraver of the ,laocoon and the ,djanire went no further than technical initiation4 ,even the example of ,desnoyers1 however instructive in some respects1 was not so obediently followed by ,henriquel as to cause any sacrifice of taste and natural sentiment4 ,by the clearness of his views1 as much as by the elevation of his talent1 the engraver of the ,hemicycle is connected with the past ,french school and the masters who are its chief honour2 but by the particular form of expression he employs1 by a something extremely unexpected in his manner and extremely personal in his acceptance of tradition1 he stands to a certain extent apart from his predecessors1 and may be called an innovator1 though he by no means advertises any such pretension4 ,as we have just remarked1 his use of means is so versatile that he paints with the graver or the needle1 where just before him others1 even the most skilful--men like ,laugier and ,richomme--could only engrave2 and the influence he has exerted--whether by direct teaching1 or by his signed work--has had the effect of rejuvenating engraving in ,france in more than one particular1 and of awakening talents1 some of which1 though plainly betraying their origin1 have none the less a weight and an importance of their own1 and deserve an honourable place in the history of contemporary art4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ii4--;,,henriquel4 ,alexander ,tardieu4 ,after a ,drawing by ,ingres4 ,several of his most distinguished pupils are dead3 ,aristide ,louis1 whose ,mignon1 after ,scheffer1 won instant popularity2 ,jules ,franois1 who is to be credited1 among other fine plates1 with a real masterpiece in the ,militaire ,offrant des ,pices d',or une ,femme1 after the ,terburg in the ,louvre2 and ,rousseaux1 perhaps the most gifted engraver of his generation1 whose works1 few as they are1 are yet enough to immortalise him4 ,who knows1 indeed1 if some day the ,portrait d',homme from the picture in the ,louvre attributed to ,francia1 and the ,madame de ,svign from ,nanteuil's pastel1 may not be sought for with the eagerness now expended on the search for the old masters of engraving8 ,the premature death of these accomplished craftsmen has certainly been a loss to the ,french school4 ,fortunately1 however1 there remain many others whose work is of a nature to uphold the ancient renown of ,french art1 and to defy comparison with the achievement of other countries4 ,where1 save in ,france could equivalents be found1 for instance1 of the ,coronation of the ,virgin1 after ,giovanni da ,fiesole1 and the ,marriage of ,saint ,catherine1 after ,memling1 by ,alphonse ,franois2 of the ,antiope1 by ,blanchard1 after ,correggio2 of the ,vierge de la ,consolation1 after ,hbert1 by ,huot2 of ,danguin's ,titian's ,mistress1 or ,bertinot's ,portement de ,croix1 after ,lesueur2 of several other plates1 remarkable in different ways1 and bearing the same or other names8 ,what rivalry need ,gaillard fear1 in the sort of engraving of which he is really the inventor1 and which he practises with such extraordinary skill8 ,whether he produces after ,van ,eyck1 ,ingres1 or ,rembrandt1 such plates as the ,homme l'illet1 the dipus1 and the ,pilgrims of ,emmaus1 or gives us1 from his own drawings or paintings1 such portraits as his ,pius ,,ix4 and his ,dom ,guranger1 he1 in every case1 arrests the mind as well as surprises the eye1 by the inconceivable subtlety of his work4 ,even when translating the works of others he shows himself boldly original4 ,his methods are entirely his own1 and render imitation impossible because they are prompted by the exceptional delicacy of his perceptions2 but1 with all the goodwill in the world1 it would be no less difficult to appropriate his keenness of sentiment or to gain an equal degree of mental insight4 ,in ,france1 then1 line engraving has representatives numerous enough1 and above all meritorious enough1 to put to rout the apprehensions of those who believe1 or affect to believe1 the art irretrievably injured by the success of heliography4 ,we have only to glance at the feats accomplished in our own day in engraving of another kind1 and to examine those produced in ,france by contemporary ,french etchers1 to be reassured on this question also4 ,might we not1 even1 without exaggeration1 apply the term renaissance to the series of advances effected in the branch of engraving formerly distinguished by ,callot and by ,claude ,lorraine8 ,when1 since the seventeenth century1 has the needle ever been handled in ,france by so many skilful artists1 and with so keen a feeling for effect and colour8 ,but let none mistake the drift of our praise4 ,of course1 we do not allude here to the thousands of careless sketches scrawled on the varnish1 with a freedom to be attributed to simple ignorance1 far more than to real dash and spirit2 nor to those would-be works of art1 for which the skill of the printer and the tricks of printing have done the most4 ,to the dupes of such blatant trickeries they shall be left4 ,still1 it is only just to acknowledge1 in the etchings of the day1 a singular familiarity with the true conditions of the process1 and generally a good knowledge of pictorial effect1 solid enough and sufficiently under control to maintain a mean between pedantry and exaggerated ease4 ,many names would deserve mention1 were we not confined to general indications of the progress and the movement they represent4 ,it is1 however1 impossible to omit that of ,jacquemart1 the young master recently deceased1 who1 in a kind of engraving he was the first to attempt1 gave proof of much ingenuity of taste and of original ability4 ,the plates of which his ,gemmes et ,joyaux de la ,couronne is composed1 and his etchings of similar models--sculpture and goldsmith's work1 vases and bindings1 enamels and cameos--all deserve to rank with historical pieces of the highest order2 even as the still-life painted by ,chardin a century ago still excites the same interest1 and has a right to the same attention1 as the best pictures by contemporary allegorical or portrait painters4 ,the superiority of the ,french school1 in whatever style1 has1 moreover1 been recently recognised and proclaimed in public4 ,it has not been forgotten that the jury entrusted with the awards at the ,international ,exhibition of #ahgh unanimously decreed a principal share to the engravers of ,france4 ,without injustice this share might perhaps have been even greater if the jury1 chiefly composed of ,frenchmen1 had not thought right to take full account of the special conditions of the competition1 and the readiness with which the artists of other countries had responded4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ajj4--;,,jules ,,jacquemart4 ,henri ,,iii4 ,after a ,sixteenth ,century ,bronze4 ,since then the position of art in ,europe1 and the relative importance of talents in different countries of ,europe1 have not changed4 ,if1 to understand the state of contemporary engraving1 it be thought desirable to confine our attention to the present moment1 there can be no doubt whatever that the most cursory examination of the works representing the different processes of engraving must justify the above observations4 ,these we should wish briefly to recapitulate4 ,we have said that etching has1 within the last few years1 returned so much into favour1 that probably at no other time have its products been more numerous1 or in more general demand4 ,this is but fair2 and it is not in ,france only that the public taste for etched work1 large and small1 is justified by the talent of the artists who publish it4 ,to quote a few names only among those to be commended1 in different degrees1 for their many proofs of sentiment and skill1 we have ,unger in ,austria2 ,redlich and ,massaloff in ,russia2 ,gilli in ,italy2 and ,seymour ,haden in ,england4 ,by their talents they assist in the reform which the ,french engravers began1 and which they now pursue with increasing authority and exceptional technical knowledge4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aja4--;,,jules ,,jacquemart4 ,tripod1 by ,gouthire4 ,mezzotint and aquatint have been not nearly so fortunate4 ,the former appears to have fallen1 almost everywhere1 into disuse4 ,even in ,england1 where1 as soon as ,von ,siegen's invention was imported1 a school was founded to cultivate its resources--in ,england1 where1 from ,earlom to ,s4 ,w4 ,reynolds and ,cousins1 mezzotint engravers so long excelled--it is a mere chance if a few are still to be found supporting the tradition4 ,in other countries1 ,france1 ,belgium1 ,germany1 and ,italy1 mezzotint is1 to speak strictly1 scarcely practised at all4 ,it has been replaced by aquatint1 which itself1 as we mentioned in a former chapter1 is only used for purely commercial requirements1 except by engravers of real talent in combination with the needle and the graver4 ,wood engraving has made1 in certain respects1 considerable progress in the course of the last few years4 ,in ,france and ,england it is producing results that not only confirm its advances1 but are as the prophecy of still better things4 ,amongst recent prints1 those of ,robert1 for instance1 do more than promise2 they realise the hopes which others only hold out4 ,all the same1 it is commonly the case with wood engravers that1 clever though they be1 they are apt to deceive themselves as to the special conditions of their art1 and too often to forget that it is not their province to imitate the appearance of line engraving4 ,instead of attempting to copy the complicated results of the graver1 they should rather1 in accordance with the nature of the process at their disposal1 be satisfied with rapid suggestions of effect and modelling and a summary imitation of form and colour4 ,the illustrations after ,holbein1 by ,ltzelburger and other ,germans of the sixteenth century1 and the portraits and subjects cut on wood by ,italian artists1 or by ,frenchmen of the same epoch1 as ,geofroy ,tory and ,salomon ,bernard1 are models to which the engravers of our own day would do well to conform1 instead of entering1 under pretext of improvements1 upon attempted innovations as foreign to the true nature of the process as to its objects and real resources4 ,though the practice of line engraving is more scientific in ,france than anywhere else1 it has nevertheless distinguished representatives in other countries4 ,besides the ,french1 the ,german1 and the ,italian engravers we have mentioned1 ,weber1 in ,switzerland2 ,de ,kaiser1 in ,holland2 ,biot and ,franck1 in ,belgium2 ,jacobi1 ,sonnenleiter1 and ,klaus1 in ,austria1 are working manfully for the cause so well supported by ,henriquel and his followers4 ,but everywhere the perseverance of zeal and talent is unfortunately insufficient to overcome the prejudices of the public1 and its exaggerated confidence in the benefits of mechanical discovery4 ,since the progress accomplished by science in the domain of heliographic reproduction1 since the advantages with regard to material exactness that photography and the processes derived from it have offered1 or seem to offer1 line engraving1 of all the different methods1 is certainly the one that has suffered most from the supposed rivalry4 ,a mistake1 all the more to be regretted as it seems to be general1 gave rise to the idea that it was all over with the art of engraving1 simply because1 as mere copies1 its products could not have the infallible fidelity of photographic images1 and that1 however painstaking and faithful the engraver's hand1 it could never produce that exact fac-simile1 that ruthless imitation of the thing copied4 ,nothing could be truer than this1 if the only object of line engraving were to give us a literal copy1 a brutal effigy of its original4 ,but is it necessary to mention again that1 happily1 it has also the task of interpretation8 ,owing to the very limited field in which he works1 as it were in monochrome1 the engraver is compelled to choose and to combine the best means of rendering by analogy the various colours of his original1 to organise its general effect1 and to bring out both the character and the style1 now by the simplification of certain details1 now by applying the principle of selection to certain others4 ,we have no longer here the stupid impartiality1 or1 if it be preferred1 the unreasoning veracity of a mechanical apparatus1 but the deliberate use of feeling1 intelligence1 and taste--of all those faculties1 indeed1 which mould and enter into the talent of an artist4 ,now as long as there are men in the world capable of preferring idea to matter1 and the art which appeals to the mind to the fact which speaks to the eyes1 line engraving will retain its influence1 however small it may be supposed1 however limited it may really be4 ,in any case1 those who in these days1 in spite of every obstacle1 are determined to pursue in their own way the work of such men as ,edelinck and ,nanteuil1 will have deserved recognition from their contemporaries1 and will have averted1 so far as they could1 the complete decay1 if it must come1 of art properly so called1 when sacrificed to the profit of chance manufacture and mere technique4 ,a ,,chapter ,,on ,,english ,,engraving4 ,,by ,,william ,,walker4 ,england appears at first only to have participated in the ,european movement amongst the fine arts by the trade which it carried on in foreign productions1 and the hospitality and the patronage which it gave to many celebrated artists4 ,thus the country was enriched with foreign works1 and examples were obtained1 not perhaps worthy of being slavishly followed1 but at all events capable of stimulating native talent4 ,at the persuasion of ,erasmus1 ,holbein1 in #aebf1 came to try his fortune in ,england1 and was followed afterwards by ,rubens and ,van ,dyck1 as well as ,de ,bry1 ,vorsterman1 and the indefatigable ,hollar1 the latter an engraver unrivalled in his own style1 and perhaps the most unfortunate in worldly circumstances who ever practised the art4 ,as early as #adhc wood-cuts were used for illustration in ,caxton's ,golden ,legend1 and subsequent printers adopted the same practice in issuing their publications4 ,in like manner1 copperplate engravings appeared first as illustrations for books1 notably in one called ,the ,birth of ,mankind1 dedicated to ,queen ,catherine1 and published by ,thomas ,raynalde in #aedj1 and in a translation of ,vesalius' ,anatomy1 published in #aede by ,thomas ,geminus1 who not only did the literary work1 but copied the original wood-cuts on copper4 ,in the middle of the century1 the ,hogenbergs took advantage of the method for portraiture1 ,francis engraving in #aeee a portrait of ,queen ,mary1 and his brother ,remigius in #aegc one of ,matthew ,parker1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 who seems to have retained the engraver in his service4 ,about the same period appeared ,william ,rogers1 who was born in ,london in #aede1 and may be considered as the earliest ,english engraver worthy of mention4 ,his series of portraits are of considerable merit1 especially a whole length1 taken from a drawing by ,isaac ,oliver1 of ,queen ,elizabeth1 standing with orb and sceptre1 and clothed in a rich embroidered and puffed dress4 ,this print bears at the bottom the name of the engraver1 and was afterwards reduced in size all round1 turning the figure of the ,queen into a three-quarter length1 and cutting away ,rogers' name1 which was not reinserted in the later publication4 ,both sizes of the print are scarce1 especially the original1 and indeed for a considerable time the reduced impression was considered anonymous1 until the appearance of the larger engraving and its comparison with the smaller established the identity of the two4 ,the elder ,crispin de ,passe engraved a plate from the same drawing of smaller size1 and with different accessories in the background4 ,de ,passe1 a native of ,utrecht1 and his family1 ,william1 ,simon1 and a daughter ,magdalen1 came over to ,england at the beginning of the seventeenth century1 and engraved many prints of much interest in a style peculiarly their own4 ,reginald ,elstracke 7born #afbj7 and ,francis ,delaram flourished about the same period4 ,but nothing was accomplished by any ,english engraver of great artistic value1 or which could be fairly compared with the work in other countries1 until the middle of the century4 ,it was then that ,william ,faithorne1 by his series of portraits1 full of colour and executed in a clear and brilliant style1 freed ,england from this reproach4 ,he may be said to have inaugurated the era of ,english engravers1 who1 though mostly surpassed by other nations in the line manner of engraving1 have no rivals in mezzotint4 ,this style1 which1 when combined with bold etching1 may be called the culmination of the art1 was taken up in this country as soon as discovered1 adopted by the ,english as their own1 and gradually brought by them to the fullest perfection4 ,faithorne was a pupil of ,sir ,robert ,peake1 painter and engraver1 and is said also to have studied under ,nanteuil1 when driven through the troubles of the first revolution to take refuge in ,france4 ,his portraits of ,mary1 ,princess of ,orange1 the ,countess of ,exeter1 ,sir ,william ,paston1 ,queen ,catherine of ,braganza1 ,charles ,,ii41 with long flowing black hair1 ,thomas ,killegrew1 dramatist and court favourite1 and the famous ,marquis of ,worcester1 one of the contributors to the invention of the steam engine1 rank high as engravings1 and worthily take their place amidst the achievements of other countries4 ,before treating of mezzotint and the new field which it opened out to the engraver1 it will be well to call attention to the coming of ,hollar to ,england1 and his peculiar method of work1 which consisted mainly of etching1 assisted by the point or fine graver4 ,wenceslaus ,hollar 7born #afjg7 was forced early in life by the exigencies of those warlike times to leave his native land--,bohemia--and to travel through ,germany1 designing and engraving on his way1 until1 in #afcf1 he met at ,cologne with the ,earl of ,arundel1 the ,english ,ambassador to ,ferdinand ,,ii41 who immediately took him into his employment1 and on his return from his mission brought him to ,england1 where1 with the exception of the troubled years of the first revolution1 ,hollar resided for the remainder of his life4 ,misfortune1 however1 which attended ,hollar in youth1 seemed relentless throughout his entire career2 after the restoration of ,charles ,,ii41 he underwent the terrible experiences of the plague and of the fire of ,london1 and the times1 hostile to every pursuit of art1 reduced ,hollar to a state of indigence and distress from which1 in spite of persevering industry1 he seems never to have been able to recover4 ,sent to ,africa in #affi as the king's designer1 to make drawings of the fortifications and surroundings of the town of ,tangiers1 he meets with ,algerine corsairs on his way back1 from which he escapes with difficulty4 ,on his return1 it is only after delay and vexation that he can obtain #ajj from the impecunious king for his two years' labours and expenses4 ,he travels through ,england1 making drawings and etchings of abbeys1 churches1 ruins1 and cathedrals1 and ultimately dies at ,westminster 7#afgg7 in a state of extreme poverty and distress1 his very death-bed being disturbed by bailiffs1 who threaten the seizure of the last article of furniture he possessed1 the bed upon which he is lying4 ,his body was laid in the churchyard of ,st4 ,margaret's1 ,westminster2 his name and works remain living and immortal4 ,hollar's prints amount to considerably over two thousand1 and embrace all kinds of subjects1 portraits1 landscapes1 architecture1 costume1 and animal and still-life of varied character and quality4 ,his treatment of the textures of hair1 feathers1 or the bloom on butterflies and other insects1 is simply unrivalled4 ,besides his portraits1 among other well-known and valued prints1 there are--after his own designs--the long bird's-eye view of ,london in four parts1 plans of the same city before and after the great fire 7#afff71 exterior and interior views of the old ,cathedral of ,st4 ,paul1#ea ,westminster ,hall1 with its picturesque surroundings1 the ,cathedrals of ,lincoln1 ,southwell1 ,strasbourg1 ,antwerp1 and ,york1 sets of butterflies1 insects1 costumes1 muffs1 and richly-wrought jewelled vessels4 ,in addition to these1 he engraved a set of thirteen plates 7#afga7 on the various ,english ways of hunting1 hawking1 and fishing1 after ,francis ,barlow1 painter and engraver1 who flourished during the same period1 and excelled in the representation of animals1 birds1 and fish4 ,the latter artist has left a curious print--of which the only known example is supposed to be that of the ,british ,museum--entitled ,the ,last ,horse ,race 7,august #bd1 #afhd71 run before ,charles ,,ii41 at ,dorsett ,ferry 78 ,datchett71 near ,windsor ,castle4 ,hollar was the master of ,robert ,gaywood1 who in some measure imitates his style1 and many of whose plates are justly esteemed1 such as the series of heads after ,van ,dyck1 the curious likeness of ,cromwell1 the large print of the philosophers ,democritus and ,heraclitus1 as opposing professors of gaiety and gravity1 and the plates of birds and animals after ,barlow4 ,in the meantime1 the art of mezzotint had been invented1 in the first place1 by ,ludwig von ,siegen1 a lieutenant-colonel in the service of the ,landgrave of ,hesse-,cassel1 who used the method to execute a large portrait1 bearing the date #afdb1 of the ,princess ,amelia ,elizabeth1 the dowager ,landgravine of ,hesse4 ,the credit for the discovery has also been ascribed to the well-known ,prince ,rupert1#eb nephew of ,charles ,i42 but the legend of the prince meeting with a soldier cleaning his corroded gun1 and thus conceiving the idea of engraving a copper plate1 rests on no sufficient foundation4 ,it is1 however1 enough for this romantic prince's undying renown1 that1 having acquired the secret of producing the necessary ground by some means or other1 most probably from ,von ,siegen1 he not only introduced the process into ,england1 but executed himself several remarkable engravings in the style1 one of which1 known as ,the ,great ,executioner 7dated #afeh71 after ,spagnoletto1#ec to distinguish it from a smaller plate containing the head only of the same figure1 remains to this day as a powerful and wonderful example of the method4 ,it is curious that1 with the partial exception of ,germany1 and a few isolated instances in other countries1 mezzotint should have been practically confined to ,england2 the very name is not recognised elsewhere4 ,germany uses the word ,schabkunst1 scraping art2 the ,french1 ,la manire noire1 the black manner2 and ,italy1 ,l'incisione a fumo1 engraving in smoke or black1#ed ,before the discovery of the new method1 all engraving consisted of an arrangement of lines varied occasionally by dots1 which had to be cut into the polished copperplate either directly by the graver or indirectly by the use of acid4 ,untouched by either graver or acid1 the polished plate would thus1 under the ordinary process of copperplate printing 7rubbing in the ink by a suitable dabber and then cleaning off all the ink not held fast by in-dents71 print white2 mezzotint reverses the process4 ,the plate1 instead of being polished when the engraver commences his work1 presents a close1 fine1 file-like surface1 which1 if inked1 wiped1 and put under the heavy-pressure roller press1 would now print off a deep uniform surface of bloomy black2 in place1 therefore1 of putting in lines or dots to hold the ink1 the engraver has to scrape off the close file-like grain at the required parts1 bringing up his highest lights by means of a burnisher2 the scraper and burnisher1 not the graver1 are consequently the principal tools used in executing mezzotint4 ,in addition to the greater ease and rapidity with which an engraving could be made by this process1 the range of effect or colour was immensely increased4 ,all tones between pure white and the deepest black were now capable of realisation1 and it is easy to see how greatly were enlarged the resources of the engraver1 whose special gift and claim as an original artist--a fact too often forgotten1 or rather not sufficiently recognised--consist in his power of translating into various shades of black and white the numerous colours at the disposal of the painter4 ,the forming or laying the grained surface1 technically called ground1 is necessarily of the utmost importance1 and is effected by a tool known amongst practical workers as the rocker1 called also cradle1 or berceau--the ,french equivalent--from the peculiar rocking motion given to it by the operator4 ,the rocker is made of moderately thin and carefully tempered steel about two inches broad1 and might be termed a stumpy1 wide chisel were it not that it is curved 7like a cheese-cutter7 and notched or serrated at the cutting edge1 which serration is caused by one side of the steel being indented into small fluted ridges running parallel upwards to the handle by which the tool is held1 and somewhat presenting the appearance of a small-tooth-comb4 ,on the plain smooth side the rocker is ground level to the edge1 like other cutting tools1 and sharpened on a stone or hone of suitable quality4 ,in laying the ground this instrument is held firmly in the hand1 the elbow resting on a convenient cushion1 the serrated cutting edge placed on the plate with a slight inclination1 and a steady rocking motion given to the tool1 which slowly advances over the surface of the copper or steel1 forming on its way a narrow indented path4 ,side by side with this path another is made until the whole surface of the plate has been covered4 ,the series of parallel paths is then repeated at a certain angle over the previous ones1 and so on in regular progressive angular order until the required closeness of texture has been produced2 to do this it is necessary that the series of parallel paths--technically called a way--should be repeated in proper angular progression from sixty to a hundred times4 ,as the continual friction of the elbow against the cushion caused the laying of a ground to become a severe and painful operation1 particularly when the use of steel instead of copper plates came into practice early in the present century1 a modification of this plan was introduced whereby the tool was fixed at the fitting angle into one end of a long pole1 the other end being inserted loosely in a ring fixed on the board upon which the plate was placed2 the requisite rocking motion could then be easily given by the hand1 and much painful labour avoided4 ,the necessity for a good ground being so great1 as the process became more and more general in ,england1 a race of professional ground-layers grew up1 who were paid at a certain rate per square inch for the surface thus covered4 ,much controversy has taken place as to the means by which ,siegen1 ,prince ,rupert1 and the earlier mezzotinters produced their grounds1 but there is little doubt that it must have been accomplished by some rude form of the present tool1 and the curious appearance of the grain--as seen in very early mezzotints--must have been caused by the irregular crossings of the impressed layers1 the necessity of regular angular procedure throughout the plate1 in order to obtain an even tone1 not having been recognised at first4 ,prince ,rupert imparted the secret of the process to ,wallerant ,vaillant1 a native of ,lisle1 a portrait painter 7born #afbc1 died #afgg7 who practised the method with great success1 working chiefly at ,amsterdam1 and leaving to posterity many prints of considerable artistic merit4 ,sir ,christopher ,wren is also credited with the execution of one of the earliest mezzotints1 a negro's head with a collar round the throat1 but there is no satisfactory authority for the various statements to this effect1 the only sound fact being that this early print is an extremely interesting specimen of the process4 ,the first ,english engraving executed in this style bearing a date is a portrait of ,charles ,,ii4 in an oval frame 7,giul4 ,sherwin1 fecitt #affi71 by ,william ,sherwin1 who1 there is some reason to believe1 acquired his knowledge of the process directly from ,prince ,rupert4 ,sherwin1 born about #afej1 engraved also in line1#ee and is said to have had the distinction of engraver to the king conferred on him by patent1 an exceptional honour4 ,among the mezzotinters about this period1 ,abraham ,blootelingh1 born at ,amsterdam in #afcd1 and distinguished both as a line engraver and etcher1 came over to ,england in #afgc1 made use of the method with admirable success1 and is said to have effected considerable improvement in the process of laying the ground2 his life-size head of the ,duke of ,monmouth1 in an oval border or frame1 is a masterpiece of the art4 ,but1 with the above exceptions1 the works left by the majority of the early mezzotinters1 both ,english and foreign1 are more curious to the student than satisfactory to the artistic eye4 ,it was not until the close of the century1 when ,isaac ,beckett and ,john ,smith had already begun to issue their grand series of portraits after ,kneller1 ,lely1 and other contemporary painters1 that the full capabilities of the invention were realised and the foundation laid for the steady and uninterrupted progress of the art4 ,john ,smith's clear1 bright1 and intelligent face ought to be well known to ,englishmen both from his own engraving and also from ,kneller's admirable picture1 from which it was taken1 so long to be seen hanging in the ,rubens and ,rembrandt room of the ,national ,gallery1 and lately fittingly transferred to the ,national ,portrait ,gallery4 ,he was a pupil of ,beckett and native of ,northamptonshire1 and died at ,northampton in #agdb1 where there is a tablet to his memory in ,st4 ,peter's ,church4 ,when the eighteenth century opened1 mezzotint had taken firm root in ,england2 ,beckett and ,john ,smith were in the plenitude of their powers2 ,jean ,simon1 a ,protestant refugee from ,france 7born in ,normandy1 #afge71 had taken refuge in ,england1 and forsaking his original method of line1 had adopted that of mezzotint with great success1 while ,g4 ,white was already giving the first indications of the advantages that might be gained by the introduction of etching into the method4 ,john ,faber1 junior1 was also establishing his reputation1 not only by his well-known portraits 7which include the set of the ,kit-cat ,club#ef and the ,hampton ,court beauties71 but by many spirited fancy subjects after ,mercier1 and above all by an admirable print after ,frank ,hals of a man playing the guitar4 ,faber1 the younger1 was born in ,holland in #afhd1 and brought to ,england when three years old by his father 7also an engraver in mezzotint1 but completely overshadowed by his son72 he studied under ,vanderbank1 and was patronised by ,kneller2 his works are peculiarly valuable as forming records of the painters--now so apt to be carelessly passed by#eg--who lived between the time of ,kneller and the rise of ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1 and all left work of value to posterity4 ,the modern sharp division between painters and engravers was unknown in those days2 the painter was only too glad to avail himself of the talent of the engraver to make his paintings known1 and in many cases keep alive and hand down to after generations a name which otherwise might have died out and been forgotten4 ,painters of the present age ignore the engraver1 and prefer the more tangible money results to be obtained from treating with a publisher for the purchase of their copyrights1 adopting in this respect the teaching conveyed in the witty speech of ,sir ,godfrey ,kneller1 who1 when reproached for his preference1 to other branches of painting1 of the lucrative one of portraiture1 replied3 ,painters of history make the dead live and do not begin to live themselves till they are dead2 ,i paint the living and they make me live4 ,kneller might1 however1 have defended his practice on higher grounds1 for portraiture1 though often ignorantly decried1 tests the powers of a great artist to the uttermost1 and bequeaths to posterity a legacy of as valuable work as it is in the power of man to accomplish4 ,it is interesting to note here that copyright in works of art was first obtained on the behalf of engraving2 ,hogarth1 painter and engraver1 finding that so many of his prints--which1 numerously distributed1 could easily be pirated--were being copied1 boldly and successfully asserted his rights in the courts of law1 and was the means of obtaining from ,parliament a ,copyright ,act to defend property in art4 ,to ,faber succeeded ,thomas ,frye and ,james ,mc,ardell1 who were both born in the same city1 ,dublin1 the birthplace of several other distinguished engravers4 ,the life of ,frye was eventful2 he came in early manhood to ,london in the company of his fellow-townsman ,stoppelaer1 who by turns became artist1 actor1 dramatic writer1 and singer4 ,frye commenced by painting and engraving portraits1 and then took charge of the china manufactory just established at ,bow1 from the ruins of which afterwards arose those of ,chelsea and ,worcester2 there he remained fifteen years1 and by his taste and skill improved the manufactures in material form and ornamentation until1 the business not succeeding and his health being injured by the heat of the furnaces1 he had to take a journey to ,wales to recruit1 the expenses of which he paid by painting portraits1 ultimately returning to ,london with some money in his pocket4 ,frye now took a house in ,hatton ,garden1 where he painted miniatures1 life-size heads in oils and crayons1 and in the space of about two years1 #agfj-b1 executed in mezzotint the remarkable and justly esteemed series of life-size heads1 which contain1 among others1 portraits of himself1 his wife1 and his mother4 ,these were his last productions1 as he died of a complication of diseases in #agfb at the age of fifty-two4 ,frye was industrious1 amiable1 and generous in character1 patient in misfortune1 and ingenious in accomplishing his objects2 his likenesses of ,george ,,iii4 and ,queen ,charlotte were obtained by frequent visits to the theatre1 where it is said that the king and queen1 on knowing his purpose1 used kindly to turn their heads towards the artist to help him in his task2 other portraits were perhaps accomplished more by the exercise of imagination1 as the fine ladies he would ask to sit were wont to refuse with the excuse that they did not know in what company they might find themselves placed4 ,mc,ardell1 the jovial companion of artists1 the friend of ,quin the actor1 of whom ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds observed1 that even if the colours of his 7,sir ,joshua's7 pictures faded his fame would be preserved by ,mc,ardell's engravings1 marks an epoch in the art2 for he was the first to use vigorous etching to increase the effect of mezzotint4 ,he died young1 in ,june1 #agfe1 in his thirty-seventh year1 and was buried in ,hampstead ,churchyard1 where1 according to ,lysons1 a short inscription to his memory recorded the fact4#eh ,mc,ardell's immediate successors were numerous1 and of striking power and originality in the exercise of their art2 the more important of them were ,richard ,houston1 ,john ,greenwood1 ,edward ,fisher1 ,john ,spilsbury1 ,valentine ,green1 ,william ,pether1 ,richard ,brookshaw1 ,john ,blackmore1 ,john ,dixon1 ,john ,jones1 ,robert ,laurie1 and the two ,watsons1 ,james and ,thomas1 who were closely followed1 in point of time1 by ,william ,dickinson1 ,james ,walker1#ei ,john ,dean1 ,john ,young1 the popular ,j4 ,r4 ,smith 7,john ,raphael71 and perhaps the greatest of them all as an engraver1 ,richard ,earlom4 ,many of these also practised in stipple1 but their finer works in mezzotint completely overshadow these productions4 ,it may be added that even the paintings of ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds would hardly have been appreciated as thoroughly both in ,england and other countries1 were it not for the admirable renderings of his pictures by the famous band of engravers practising during his lifetime4 ,gainsborough has undoubtedly suffered in this respect1 for1 unlike ,wright of ,derby1 ,hoppner1 ,opie1 ,morland1 and ,lawrence1 few important mezzotints have been executed after his pictures2 and were the art to revive and the engravers to be found1 a mine of wealth would be waiting to reward with its treasures well-directed labour4 ,earlom was born in #agdc1 and at his death in #ahbb had reached his eightieth year2 when fourteen years old he gained a premium from the ,society of ,arts1 and attracted attention by making copies of ,cipriani's pictures on the ,lord ,mayor's state carriage2 this led to his becoming the painter's pupil and to his acquiring a thorough knowledge of drawing4 ,the ,boydells employed him to make drawings and engravings from the ,houghton collection1 and throughout his long life he continued to exercise unremittingly his laborious profession2 his plates are numerous and of great excellence1 while his skilful use of etching gives effect and variety to the many textures represented4 ,earlom engraved after various masters ancient and modern1 and perhaps first showed the world the wide range of subjects which the style was capable of effectively representing1 such as--to mention only a few of the more important plates--,correggio's ,repose in ,egypt1 ,rubens' ,son and ,nurse1 ,van ,dyck's ,duke of ,arembergh on ,horseback1 ,vanderwerff's ,bathsheba bringing ,abishag to ,david1 the ,fish1 ,game1 ,vegetable1 and ,fruit ,markets1 after ,snyders and ,long ,john1#fj ,van ,huysum's fruit and flower pieces1 ,zoffany's terribly realistic representation of a ,scene in the ,french ,revolution on the #ajth of ,may1 #agic1 and his ,life ,school at the ,royal ,academy1 ,wright of ,derby's ,blacksmith's ,shop and ,iron ,forge1 and the six plates after ,hogarth1 ,marriage la ,mode4 ,the renown acquired by the works of ,english mezzotinters gradually attracted the notice of other nations--particularly ,germany--where the style had almost died out1 and many foreign engravers came to this country1 amongst others1 ,j4 ,g4 ,haid and the ,viennese ,jacobe1 who not only executed valuable works in ,england1 but were the cause of a partial renewal of the method in their own countries4 ,the ,austrian ,pichler 7born #agfe1 died #ahjf7 finished in pure mezzotint many plates of exceptional merit1 while his fruit and flower pieces after ,van ,huysum rival the masterpieces of ,earlom after the same painter4 ,during the same period the ,english school had been making rapid strides in the other branches of copperplate engraving1 line1 stipple1 and etching4 ,line1 which to this day is considered by many as the highest style of the art1 and which most certainly is well fitted to render the human form with grace and purity of outline and detail1 has notwithstanding to overcome the difficulty of adequately expressing the various shades of colour and texture1 and above all of realising the due effects of atmosphere and distance1 a serious matter where the accessories are of importance or where landscape enters largely into the composition of the picture4 ,it is1 therefore1 not surprising that1 with mezzotint at hand with its wide range of capabilities1 there should be comparatively few ,english engravers of eminence devoting themselves to line4 ,hogarth1 who was born in #afig1 and began life as an engraver of arms and cyphers1 naturally employed the method of line to give expression to his bold and vigorous designs1 and in this was assisted by ,luke ,sullivan1 who had been a pupil of ,thomas ,major4 ,major 7born #agbj7 had spent some years in ,paris engraving after ,berghem1 ,wouvermans1 and others2 he was an artist of skill1 and lived to a considerable age1 holding for forty years the office of seal engraver to the king1 and being the first associate#fa engraver elected by the ,royal ,academy4 ,in the year #agcj1 ,vivares1 who was a ,frenchman by birth1 and who1 in spite of natural artistic talents1 had been apprenticed to a tailor1 came to ,england at the age of eighteen and studied under ,chatelain1 an artist of ,french ,protestant parentage1 but born in ,london4 ,vivares soon surpassed his master1 acquired great renown for his many fine plates of landscape and sea-scenes1 and became a member of the ,society of ,artists2 he lived for thirty years in ,great ,newport ,street1 and was buried in ,paddington ,churchyard in the year #aghj4 ,it is1 however1 from the pre-eminent excellence of the line engravings of ,strange1 ,woollett1 and ,sharp that the right of ,england to a place in the hierarchy of the art has been conceded by other nations4 ,sir ,robert ,strange1 descended from an ancient ,scottish family1 was born at ,orkney in #agba1 and served an apprenticeship of six years to ,richard ,cooper of ,edinburgh4 ,in this city ,strange started as an engraver on his own account2 when the civil war broke out he joined the side of the ,pretender1 engraved a half-length portrait of him1 and was appointed engraver to this prince2 after the battle of ,culloden1 in which he is said to have taken part1 ,strange escaped to ,paris1 and had there the advantage of studying under ,le ,bas4 ,in #agea he returned to ,england1 and established himself in ,london1 where his talents were readily recognised and appreciated4 ,on the accession of ,george ,,iii41 ,strange refused the commission to engrave whole-length portraits of the king and his ,prime ,minister1 ,lord ,bute1 thereby giving great offence1 which1 together with the remembrance of his former adventures1 made ,strange think it prudent to leave the country for a time2 therefore1 to turn to good account even such untoward circumstances1 he determined to increase the knowledge of his art by travelling through the continent4 ,in ,italy he produced some of his finest engravings after ,titian1 ,raphael1 ,correggio1 ,domenichino1 ,guido1 and ,van ,dyck2 his talent was everywhere acknowledged2 he was elected member of the ,academies of ,rome1 ,florence1 ,bologna1 ,parma1 and ,paris2 and1 on his return to ,london1 by his engraving after ,west of the apotheosis of the king's three children1 who had died in infancy1 he regained the royal favour and received the distinction of knighthood4 ,sir ,robert ,strange was a member of the ,incorporated ,society of ,artists1 but was very hostile to the ,royal ,academy1 deeply and justly resenting their exclusion of engravers from full membership4 ,during the later part of his life he lived in ,great ,queen ,street1 ,lincoln's ,inn ,fields1 where he died in #agib4 ,he was buried in ,st4 ,paul's ,churchyard1 ,covent ,garden4 ,strange had chiefly devoted himself to classical subjects and the delineation of the human form1 ,woollett1 on the other hand1 took up the branches of landscape and history1 and by his skill of touch and persistently intelligent labour produced such results as were sufficient to call forth ungrudging praise from all competent judges1 not only in his own country1 but abroad4 ,among ,woollett's most celebrated plates are the ,fishery1 the ,battle of ,la ,hogue1 and the ,death of ,general ,wolfe4 ,in the printing of the last plate an accident occurred after a few proofs had been taken2 a printer in careless fun taking up a hammer1 cried out1 ,general ,wolfe seems dying1 ,i'll finish him2 saying this1 he suited action to word1 and unintentionally brought the hammer down on the face of the general1 thus destroying by the freak of a moment the work of days of patient labour4 ,it is said that ,woollett cried on hearing the news2 the painter1 his art once learnt1 fired by imagination1 can by rapid strokes of his brush give effect to his will1 while the engraver only attains his end by months of unremitting and trustful toil4 ,woollett was born at ,maidstone in #agce1 and was apprenticed to ,john ,tinney1 who is now best known as having been the master of three distinguished pupils1 ,anthony ,walker1 ,john ,browne1 and ,woollett himself4 ,anthony ,walker engraved the well-known ,law and ,physic after ,ostade1 and the figures in the print of ,niobe1 ,woollett's first work of importance4 ,he was the brother of the ,william ,walker who greatly increased the effect of etching by re-biting1 and it is said that ,woollett1 when making use of the process1 was wont to exclaim1 ,thank you1 ,william ,walker4#fb ,woollett lived in ,london all his life in the neighbourhood of ,rathbone ,place1 where1 when he had finished a plate1 he used to celebrate the event by firing a cannon from the roof of his house2 he died in #aghe1 and a tablet#fc was placed to his memory in the cloisters of ,westminster ,abbey4 ,william ,sharp was the son of a gunmaker in the ,minories1 where he was born in #agdi1 and afterwards apprenticed to ,barak ,longmate1 a notable heraldic engraver1 with whom ,sharp's first essay as an apprentice was engraving pewter pots4 ,sharp completed the plate of ,west's ,landing of ,charles ,,ii41 left unfinished by ,woollett at his death1 while many will know one of his finest works1 the ,doctors of the ,church1 after ,guido4 ,although he never left ,england1 his prints were celebrated throughout ,europe2 he was elected honorary member of the ,imperial ,academy at ,vienna and of the ,royal ,academy at ,munich1 but like ,woollett1 ,strange1 and ,hall1 was not recognised by the ,english ,royal ,academy4 ,his religious and political views were peculiar1 and being considered a dangerous character1 he was summoned before the ,privy ,council1 where at length1 annoyed by repeated and1 as he considered1 irrelevant questions1 ,sharp is said to have deliberately pulled out of his pocket a prospectus of his engraving of the celebrated ,polish general and patriot ,kosciusko1 and handing it to the council1 requested their names as subscribers2 this and his frank manner relieved him from the unpleasant predicament in which he found himself placed4 ,sharp also engraved a portrait of ,richard ,brothers--a fanatic whose prophecies and writings excited attention at the time--with the title of ,prince of the ,hebrews1 and wrote underneath3 ,fully believing this to be the man whom ,god has appointed1 ,i engrave his likeness4 ,though successful and industrious in his art1 ,sharp died in comparative poverty in the year #ahbd at ,chiswick4 ,among other distinguished men who worked in line during this period must be mentioned ,james ,heath1 ,anker ,smith1 ,john ,keyse ,sherwin1 ,francis ,legat1 ,thomas ,morris--a pupil of ,woollett's--who engraved the fine views of the ,monument1 seen from ,fish ,street ,hill1 and ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral from ,ludgate ,hill1 and lastly the unfortunate ,william ,wynne ,ryland1 who engraved the portraits of ,george ,,iii4 and ,lord ,bute1 which ,strange had refused to undertake1 and who1 though of greater eminence in line1 is credited with bringing into notice in ,england the stipple manner of engraving4 ,ryland finally ended an adventurous career by being hanged for forging two bills on the ,east ,india ,company1 and by his death--notwithstanding all efforts to obtain a reprieve--justified words used in relation to the event3 ,popes and monarchs have pardoned men who had committed crimes of the deepest dye--even murder--in consideration of their talents as artists2 but ,ryland lived in ,england1 the land of trade and commerce1 and had committed an offence against the laws of money1 the god of its idolatry4 ,nor during the history of this period ought the names of ,thomas ,worlidge1 ,david ,deuchar1 and the ingenious ,captain ,baillie to be omitted2 ,worlidge in the early part1 and ,deuchar at the close of the century1 etched each in his own style with precision and effect1 while ,william ,baillie1 an ,irishman and retired cavalry officer 7born #agbc1 died #ahaj71 etched and worked in mezzotint with equal happiness and success4 ,william ,blake 7born #ageg71 poet1 engraver1 and painter1 stands alone4 ,in engraving--the laborious art by which he was content to live--he has executed admirable works1 apart from his own peculiar methods1 both in line1 as shown in the portrait of ,lavater1 and in stipple1 as in the ,industrious ,cottager1 after ,morland2 as poet and painter he has left songs and designs which1 if soaring higher than men can follow1 or even his own powers of hand and mind sufficiently express1 remain for ever to arouse the wonder and excite the imagination of posterity4 ,though he lived in poverty1 and oppressed with cares1 he was always cheerful and beloved by all who knew him intimately2 he was ever at work while life lasted1 and died in #ahbg1 as he had lived1 a righteous and happy man4 ,he was laid in ,bunhill ,fields burying-ground1 but the spot where he was buried is marked by no tombstone1 nor can it now be actually identified2 but who that has looked at the portrait engraved by ,jeens from ,linnell's wondrous miniature can ever forget the face of the poet1 engraver1 and painter1 ,william ,blake8 ,before speaking of the branch of engraving known by the name of stipple1 it would be well to say a few words as to the mode of printing in colour1 so prevalent at one time1 and of the connection which the works of ,kirkall had in relation to the method4 ,edward ,kirkall1 born at ,sheffield in the year #agbb1 published a set of plates1 in the printing of which he made use both of mezzotint and etching on copperplate combined with wood blocks 7that is to say1 one printing was from a copperplate1 the remainder from wood blocks71 in order to give variety of colour to a set of chiaroscuros and other engravings which he executed at that time4 ,his plan differed from that of ,leblond in that he used only one copperplate printing1 the other tints being given by wood blocks2 the results were interesting and effective1 partaking more of the character of chiaroscuros1 the name he himself gave to them4 ,apart from the failure of ,leblond to realise his ingenious idea that1 by the consecutive and proper superposition of three layers of primitive colours1 every shade of colour might be produced in the print1 there still remained another fatal defect in the process3 all his colours were impressed by copperplate printing1 that is1 he made use of three plates successively printed one after the other on the same sheet of paper4 ,now a person who can realise the heavy pressure under which a copperplate has to pass so as to force it into the damp paper1 in order that the paper should extract the ink from the grain in which it is held1 will be able to see that the second and third printing--no matter how accurate the register--must crush the grain or burr given to the paper by the previous printing and thus destroy the beauty of the engraver's work4 ,notwithstanding the really remarkable results produced by ,leblond1 this fatal imperfection mars all the engravings he has left executed in this manner4 ,the copperplates which were printed in colour and carried to such perfection1 particularly in ,england1 about the close of the eighteenth century1 were printed from one plate1 generally executed in stipple1 and the various tints or colours carefully rubbed in by the printer1 who used for this purpose a sort of stump instead of the ordinary dabber4 ,whatever artistic harmony in colour might be produced was therefore partially the work1 and to the credit of the printer2 the printed impressions were in addition generally touched up afterwards1 and in some cases almost entirely coloured by hand4 ,every impression printed in colours necessarily varies2 some are really exquisite in their delicacy of tone and assemblage of shades1 while others are contemptible in their staring vulgarity4 ,kirkall engraved an elaborate ornamental form on which to give a receipt to his subscribers for these engravings2 one of which1 running thus1 ,receipt from ,sir ,hans ,sloane of one guinea as part payment for twelve prints in chiaroscuro which he 7,kirkall7 promises to deliver when finished on payment of one guinea more1 can be seen at the ,british ,museum1 and will give some idea of the moderate remuneration artists of those days were content to receive for their valuable labour4 ,the rise of stipple as a separate style took place in the middle of the eighteenth century1 and although the coming of ,bartolozzi to ,england gave it so great an impetus1 it is necessary to point out that the works of the school which goes by his name by no means show the capabilities of the method4 ,the aim of ,bartolozzi and his followers was essentially prettiness2 to this all their efforts tended1 and for this stipple was a convenient medium4 ,the very printing in red1 recently so popular1 is barbarous in its ineffectiveness1 plates so printed being deprived of a great part of their proper ranges of light and shade4 ,the more serious work in this method was accomplished by other engravers1 of whom may be specially mentioned ,thomas ,gaugain1 ,anthony ,cardon1 ,caroline ,watson1 and1 later on in the present century1 ,william ,walker1 who carried the style to the highest point ever reached or likely to be reached4 ,engraving in stipple--that is1 putting dots into the plate in place of lines--was1 however1 no new invention2 from early times line engravers had placed dots in the interstices of their crossed lines to give solidity and greater effect4 ,ottavio ,leoni1 a ,roman painter1 had used the method freely in a set of plates of distinguished artists1 which he engraved in the years #afba-e1 executing the heads1 with the exception of the hair1 entirely in stipple2 and early in the century ,french engravers made use of the same means to give effect to many of their flesh textures4 ,the crayon style of engraving introduced by ,demarteau1 and the feeble ,english manner known as chalk1 which had only a limited reign1 are but modifications of the style4 ,francesco ,bartolozzi1 the life-long friend of ,cipriani 7born in #agbe at ,florence71 was educated in engraving at ,venice by ,joseph ,wagner1 and like ,cipriani1 who had preceded him1 came over to ,england in #agfd4 ,his reputation was already established there2 he was appointed engraver to the king with a salary of #cjj a year1 became one of the first forty full members of the ,royal ,academy 7#agfh71 and was the only engraver admitted to the honour down to the year #ahee4 ,bartolozzi remained in ,england for thirty-eight years1 continuously producing his innumerable and well-known plates2 at length1 in #ahjb1 seduced by the offer of a house1 pension1 and a knighthood1 he went1 at the age of seventy-seven1 to ,lisbon1 where he died in #ahae1 having reached his ninety-first year1 and working at his profession to the last4 ,john ,ogborn1 ,cheesman1 ,thomas ,ryder1 ,chapman1 ,agar1 ,t4 ,burke1 and the delightful ,p4 ,w4 ,tomkins--who1 with the late ,c4 ,h4 ,jeens1 may be called the miniaturist of engravers--were all followers more or less of his school4 ,an admirable draughtsman and perfect master of the graver1 ,bartolozzi was in addition able to infuse a certain grace and beauty into the trivial work by which he is best known2 but he has done work of a higher stamp1 and some of his line engravings1 such as ,clytie1 the ,death of ,dido1 the portraits of ,lord ,thurlow and ,martin van ,juchen in full armour 7worthy of the graver of ,pontius or ,de ,jode71 make all who care for the art regret that so talented an artist gave the greater part of his time and attention to producing prints which1 though graceful and pleasing1 charm but for the moment and leave no permanent impression4 ,this1 the ,augustan era of ,english engraving1 saw also the rise of the talented and genial ,thomas ,bewick 7born #agec1 died #ahbh71 who made the domain of natural history his own1 and in addition to executing some interesting copper plates1 has by his exquisite wood-cuts after his own drawings entitled ,england to claim her place amongst the greatest artists in that form of engraving4 ,the ,boydells1 too1 had established their celebrated firm2 both were engravers1 ,john in line1 and ,josiah1 his nephew 7a pupil of ,earlom71 in mezzotint4 ,john ,boydell was born in #agai1 and established himself first 7in #ageb7 at the sign of the ,unicorn1 corner of ,queen ,street1 ,cheapside1 afterwards at #ij ,cheapside1 and finally took additional premises in ,pall ,mall for the ,shakespeare ,gallery4 ,josiah was born in #ageb1 succeeded on his uncle's death 7#ahjd7 to the business1 and died in #ahag4 ,a great proportion of the best prints of this period will be found to bear the addresses of these famous publishers and engravers4 ,the last years of the eighteenth and the commencement of the present century witnessed the death of many of the famous engravers already mentioned4 ,it was now that the ,birmingham school of line arose1 and1 urged by the influence of ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner1 executed their delicate line engravings after that famous painter4 ,william ,radelyffe was the founder of this school1 and was followed by his son ,edward1 ,robert ,brandard1 ,j4 ,t4 ,willmore1 ,e4 ,goodall1 ,r4 ,wallis1 ,william ,miller1 and others4 ,sharp1 ,anker ,smith1 ,james ,heath1 ,earlom1 ,dickinson1 ,young1 and ,j4 ,r4 ,smith still remained for a time1 but much of their best work was already done4 ,william ,ward1 apprenticed to ,j4 ,r4 ,smith1 his brother ,james1 the noted animal painter1 ,charles ,turner and ,samuel ,william ,reynolds had also appeared to carry on and bring to its fullest development the great ,british school of mezzotint4 ,william ,ward1 born in #agff1 by his series of engravings after ,george ,morland--whose sister he married--has made the names of the painter and engraver almost indissoluble1 each having contributed to the immortality of the other4 ,james1 the painter and ,royal ,academician1 born in #agfi1 studied under his brother1 with whom he served an apprenticeship of nearly nine years2 his plates of ,cornelius the ,centurion after ,rembrandt1 ,sir ,joshua's ,mrs4 ,billington as ,st4 ,cecilia1 and the studies after nature of heads and feet of ducks1 ducklings1 geese1 and calves1 are among the finest works executed in the method4 ,james lived to a great age1 dying in #ahei in his ninety-first year1 having survived his brother and also a nephew1 ,william ,james ,ward4 ,the last-named was likewise a good mezzotint engraver1 but unfortunately died in the prime of life in the year #ahdj4 ,charles ,turner was born in the same year as ,s4 ,w4 ,reynolds 7#aggc71 and survived the latter by more than twenty years2 his prints are very numerous1 and comprise a great variety of subjects4 ,the large upright mezzotint of ,sir ,joshua's group of the ,marlborough family1 with the two younger children in front1 one holding a mask1 the other shrinking back in fright1 is deservedly well known1 as is also his fine rendering of ,the ,shipwreck after ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner1 published in #ahjg4 ,other characteristic prints which may be mentioned are ,black and ,red ,game1 after ,elmer2 ,pheasants1 after ,barenger2 the portraits of ,alexandra1 ,empress of ,russia1 after ,monier2 ,lord ,newton1 after ,raeburn2 and a marvellous life-size head of ,salvator ,rosa's ,st4 ,francis1 engraved in #ahje4 ,turner lived till the year #aheg1 when he died at his house in ,warren ,street1 ,fitzroy ,square1 at the age of eighty-three4 ,samuel ,william ,reynolds1 one of the most gifted men who ever applied themselves to the engraver's art1 studied mezzotint under ,c4 ,h4 ,hodges2 he commenced his comparatively short career both as painter and engraver1 and exhibited for several years at the ,british ,institution4 ,endowed with singular powers of fascination1 ,reynolds seems to have attracted and kept fast the friendship of all with whom he became acquainted1 irrespective of their particular social surroundings4 ,samuel ,whitbread1 the distinguished ,member of ,parliament1 of old ,drury ,lane ,theatre renown1 was his intimate and kindest friend2 ,sheridan and ,edmund ,kean played at ,pope ,joan with his daughters1 and the very printer of his plates fifty years after ,reynolds' death would grow bright when recalling his memory1 saying1 ,he was the prince of engravers4 ,he gave lessons in drawing to the daughters of ,george ,,iii41 who wished to make him their equerry1 and afterwards an important post with a salary of #ijj a year was offered him1 but both these offers were refused4 ,it is from the technical skill and firm daring which ,reynolds displayed in his prints1 and the intelligent use he made of the means at his command1 that his name as an engraver remains pre-eminent2 the ,falconer1 ,vulture and ,snake1 ,heron and ,spaniel1 and ,leopards after ,northcote2 the ,duchess of ,bedford after ,hoppner2 the regal whole-length of the unfortunate ,princess ,charlotte2 the large and exquisitely finished etching from ,rembrandt's famous picture of ,the ,mill2 and the ,land ,storm--known also as the ,mail ,coach in a ,storm--after ,george ,morland1 are but a few of the many prints which show the power and versatility of the engraver4 ,in the last-named print 7published #agih71 where the resources of mezzotint and etching combined have been used to fullest purpose1 the familiar identity of the painter has been almost hidden under the massive effects of light and shade shown in the landscape1 where amidst lightning flash and rushing wind the terror-stricken horses are seen dashing madly onward4 ,when ,reynolds went to ,paris in #ahbf1 artists there were astonished at his paintings and the effects that he produced4 ,sixdeniers and ,maile studied with him1 and several plates bear their combined names2 unfortunately both these engravers1 excellent as they were as mezzotinters1 chiefly engraved after painters whose productions partook of a frivolous and somewhat free character4 ,reynolds1 however1 left more permanent marks of his stay in the ,french capital by executing there the large plates of ,gricault's ,wreck of the ,medusa1 ,horace ,vernet's ,mazeppa1 and the masterly representations of ,charlet's characteristic types1 the ,village ,barber and the ,rag ,picker4 ,in the last two the technical handling is so free that it would almost seem as if the scraper had been used with the same facility as chalk on paper4 ,in reference to this there is a story extant that ,reynolds once scraped a large whole-length portrait in a day and a night2 the story is true1 but it is also true that it is one of his worst plates4 ,shortly before his death ,reynolds was greatly struck with ,constable's picture of ,the ,lock1 and resolved to engrave it at his own cost2 writing to ,constable on the arrival of the picture1 he says3--,i have been before your picture for the last hour4 ,it is no doubt the best of your works true to nature1 seen and arranged with a professor's taste and judgment4 ,the execution shows in every part a hand of experience2 masterly without rudeness1 and complete without littleness2 the colouring is sweet1 fresh1 and healthy2 bright not gaudy1 but deep and clear4 ,take it for all in all1 since the days of ,gainsborough and ,wilson no landscape has been painted with so much truth and originality1 so much art1 so little artifice4 ,but he did not live to fulfil his intention1 for while still full of hope and high purpose for the future1 ,reynolds was suddenly stricken with paralysis1 and died at his house in ,bayswater in the year #ahce4 ,this sudden ending was the cause of his son--likewise named ,samuel ,william--forsaking painting to finish some of his father's plates1 and ultimately continuing with success the practice of mezzotint on his own account4 ,reynolds' daughter ,elizabeth1 who married the stipple engraver ,william ,walker--though chiefly known by her miniatures and other paintings--also engraved in early life4#fd ,although there are no authentic records of the pedigree1 ,s4 ,w4 ,reynolds always asserted his collateral relationship to ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1 and his son often mentioned that his father1 when quite a youth1 called on ,sir ,joshua1 who1 during the conversation that ensued1 remarked to ,reynolds1 ,then you are my cousin4 ,other engravers of eminence that flourished during this period are1 in line1 the ,bromleys1 ,john ,landseer and his sons1 ,charles ,heath1 ,william ,b4 ,cooke and his brother ,george1#fe ,john ,burnet 7celebrated as painter1 engraver1 and author71 ,richard ,golding1 and ,john ,scott2 in stipple1 ,william ,bond1 ,thomas ,woolnoth1 and ,james ,hopwood2 in mezzotint1 ,henry ,dawe1 ,william ,say1 ,henry ,meyer1 ,george ,clint1 and his pupil ,thomas ,lupton1 who1 for his introduction of soft steel instead of copper as the medium for mezzotint engraving1 received in #ahbb the gold ,isis medal from the ,society of ,arts4 ,the method of stipple was meanwhile slowly dying out1 but1 as often happens when some particular art seems about to expire1 this was the very time when the capabilities of the style were shown in the highest perfection4 ,william ,walker1 born in ,musselburgh in the year #agia1 served an apprenticeship to three engravers1 ,mitchell1 ,stewart1 and ,thomas ,woolnoth1 and choosing stipple as his method of interpretation1 in his portraits of ,sir ,walter ,scott1 ,raeburn1 and the ,earl of ,hopetoun1 justified his choice by executing the finest works that were ever accomplished in the style4 ,he astonished the mezzotinters of the period--who told him that1 do what he could1 he would never make stipple equal mezzotint in colour#ff--;by the amount of force1 colour1 and effect which he was able to give to these plates4 ,it is needless to say that such work as this could only be accomplished at the expense of intense energy and persevering labour1 qualities which were the essential characteristics of the ,scotch engraver4 ,later on1 when settled in ,london1 and more particularly after the introduction of steel in place of copper1 ,walker chiefly practised mezzotint1 in which1 however1 he made use of his previous experience1 etching his subject first in stipple before laying the mezzotint ground4 ,his plate of ,burns1 engraved in mezzotint by himself and ,mr4 ,cousins1 owes a great part of its renown to ,walker's power of rendering likeness2 in regard to this1 the painter ,alexander ,nasmyth remarked1 on seeing the finished print1 that all he could say was that it seemed to him a better likeness of the poet than his own picture4 ,this particular quality of fidelity in likeness ,walker carried out in all his after historical works2 for this purpose no trouble was too much1 no labour too severe2 the engraving of the ,distinguished ,men of ,science assembled at the ,royal ,institution in #ahjg-h1 which occupied a period of six years of unceasing research and labour1 is a striking instance4 ,this was practically his last plate4 ,he died at the age of seventy-six1 in the year #ahfg1 at his house in ,margaret ,street1 ,cavendish ,square1 and was buried at ,brompton ,cemetery4 ,the death of ,reynolds in #ahce seems to mark roughly the closing period of ,english engraving as a great art2 two of his most renowned pupils were1 however1 still in the fulness of power1 ,david ,lucas and the present ,mr4 ,samuel ,cousins1 ,r4,a4#fg ,of ,mr4 ,cousins1 it is sufficient to relate that ,reynolds1 happening one day to be in the town of ,exeter1 saw some drawings in a shop window which caught his eye1 and on going inside he learnt that they were by a lad of the name of ,cousins1 which incident led to ,reynolds taking the youth to ,london and keeping him as his apprentice4 ,mr4 ,cousins' artistic genius1 steady perseverance1 and sterling integrity in all that he undertook1 brought their full results1 as shown in the fine series of mezzotint engravings so widely known and highly appreciated1 and his name may indeed be said to close worthily the long line of great ,british mezzotinters4 ,david ,lucas was born in the year #ahjb1 and had the good fortune to meet in early life with ,constable1 between whom and ,lucas was formed that intimate connection of painter and engraver which in earlier times had led to such great results4 ,failing ,reynolds1 ,constable had applied to ,lucas to be his engraver1 and between them was completed the beautiful mezzotint series of ,english landscape2 ,constable bore the expense and was ever in counsel with the engraver1 going into the minutest details1 thinking no trouble too much to produce a good result1 down to the printing of the plates1 which they often did themselves1 ,lucas having had a press erected at his house for the purpose4 ,the execution of this series led to ,lucas undertaking the large plate of ,the ,cornfield at his own risk1 and afterwards the companion picture of ,the ,lock--referred to before--finally culminating in his production of the superb engraving of ,salisbury ,cathedral as seen from the meadows1 to which ,constable himself gave the name of ,the ,rainbow4#fh ,during all this period constant intercourse and correspondence took place between the painter and engraver4 ,at one time1 ,constable writes1 ,although much admired1 ,salisbury is still too heavy2 the sentiment of the picture is that of solemnity not gaiety1 yet it must be bright1 clear1 alive1 fresh1 and all the front seen4 ,at another1 ,the bow is a grand whole1 provided it is clear and tender2 how ,i wish ,i could scratch and tear away with your tools on the steel1 but ,i can't do it1 and your quiet way is ,i know the best and only way4 ,at length comes1 ,dear ,lucas1 the print is a noble and beautiful thing entirely improved and entirely made perfect2 the bow is noble1 it is startling1 unique4 ,so hand-in-hand they worked on1 the painter upbearing his helpmate the engraver1 each aiding the other1 little noticed by the public at the time1 but slowly building up an imperishable fame4 ,david ,lucas died in #ahha in his eightieth year4 ,in the middle of the century1 inartistic mixture of styles1 mechanical means replacing true work1 exigencies of copyright1 and above all the complete severance of the engraver not only from the painter but also from his only rightful patron the public1 had worked its sure result4 ,some good men survived1 such as ,lewis1 ,atkinson1 ,doo1 ,robinson1 ,j4 ,h4 ,watt1 ,r4 ,graves1 ,j4 ,posselwhite1 ,lumb ,stocks1 ,henry ,cousins1#fi ,w4 ,giller1 ,j4 ,r4 ,jackson1 and a few others2 but no young school had been forming to replace those dying out1 and everything presaged the gradual extinction of engraving as one of the great arts4 ,has this lowest point been reached8 ,perhaps1 as with the beautiful art of miniature painting1 which for a time on the advent of photography seemed gone for ever1 yet still like some stream was only running on in hidden course underground to appear again and reach daylight1 so may it happen with engraving4 ,within the last few years two engravers have produced prints worthy of any period of the art1 the late ,c4 ,h4 ,jeens and the present ,mr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,sherborne4 ,some of the stipple miniature book illustrations which ,jeens executed for ,messrs4 ,macmillan and others1 such as the gem medallions of ,plato and ,socrates1 ,love and ,death1 ,woolner's ,beautiful ,lady1 the portraits of ,allan ,ramsay1 ,charles ,young1 ,mr4 ,ruskin's two ,aunts1 and above all ,william ,blake1 are engraved with the tender feeling and fine touch of the true artist4 ,mr4 ,sherborne1 born in #ahcb1 probably little known except by the few1 originally a chaser and designer for jewellers and pupil of ,pietro ,gerometti1 the ,roman cameo engraver and medallist1 in #ahgb1 fired by hope and love of the art1 forsook his own branch to follow that of engraving4 ,like all true artists1 his mode of execution is his own4 ,apollo1 exhibited at the ,royal ,academy1 #ahha1 the head of ,mr4 ,seymour ,haden1 the portraits of ,phelps the ,chelsea ,waterman or ,mrs4 ,james ,builth1 and the interiors of ,westminster ,abbey1 seen at the ,painter-,etchers' ,exhibition in the summer of #ahhe1 are works that will last1 and are good examples of the engraver's powers1 causing regret that ,mr4 ,sherborne had not earlier turned his attention to an art the beauty of which he so truly feels4 ,while engraving as a whole was decaying1 one branch1 that of etching1 has been undergoing a revival1 and the names of ,mr4 ,seymour ,haden1 ,mr4 ,philip ,hamerton1 and ,mr4 ,whistler are world-known4 ,they and their school have confined themselves to producing their own designs1 while others1 like ,mr4 ,david ,law1 ,mr4 ,macbeth1 and the ,messrs4 ,slocombe1 also translate the works of painters4 ,but1 whether as a vehicle for conveying an original design or translating that of another artist1 etching is strictly limited in its powers2 it bears the same relation to the full art of engraving as sketching or drawing does to that of perfect painting2 suggestive1 capable of exhibiting broad effects of light and shade1 or indicative of the idiosyncrasy of the etcher1 it is1 of its very nature1 incomplete1 and acts but as herald to proclaim the greater results to be obtained by following out the art to its proper goal4 ,the great impetus which ,bewick's genius gave to the art of wood engraving at the commencement of the present century was carried onwards by his distinguished pupils ,luke ,clennell1 ,charlton ,nesbitt1 and ,william ,harvey1 the latter of whom1 in #ahba1 cut the large block of the death of ,dentatus 7#ae in4 #aa-a_/d in47 from the picture of the erratic genius ,b4 ,r4 ,haydon1 under whom he was at that time studying drawing4 ,robert ,branston1 ,john ,thompson and his brother ,charles1#gj ,jackson1 and ,w4 ,j4 ,linton1 are names of equal renown2 in fact1 during the first half of the century1 ,england may be said to have been supreme in the art4 ,gradually1 however1 the various mechanical processes for facilitating the commercial extension of the art such as electrotyping1#ga photography1 c41 brought here1 too1 their deteriorating effects1 causing the engraver to become less of an artist and more of a mechanic4 ,in delicacy of work and elaboration of detail1 ,american artists now stand first among wood engravers2 but they attempt too much with the means at their command1 and try to produce upon the comparatively soft material1 wood1 the delicate fineness of line which can only be realised in perfection on metal4 ,the extreme closeness of the lines1 combined with the exigencies of rapid surface printing1 dull more or less the minute interstices which ought to show pure white2 effect is lost1 and1 notwithstanding the excellence of the workmanship1 the result becomes monotonous and wearying rather than pleasurable to the satiated eye4 ,in etching also ,america takes high rank2 in addition to ,mr4 ,whistler1 the names of ,messrs4 ,j4 ,gadsby ,chapman1 ,gifford1 ,duveneck1 ,f4 ,s4 ,church1 ,pennell1 ,stephen ,parrish1 and ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,moran1 are well known in ,europe4 ,in the complete styles of engraving1 stipple1 line1 and mezzotint1 although ,american engravers are little known out of their own country--a large enough field1 however1 in which to exercise their talents--some good work has also been done2 in stipple1 by ,david ,edwin1 ,ion4 ,b4 ,forrest1 ,gimbrede1 and ,c4 ,tiebout2 in mezzotint1 by ,charles ,wilson ,peale1 ,a4 ,h4 ,ritchie1 and ,john ,sartain1 who1 after having worked under the direction of ,william ,young ,ottley1 went from ,london to ,america in #ahcj at the age of twenty-two2 and in line1 by ,asher ,brown ,durand2 ,joseph ,andrews2 the ,smillies2 and ,charles ,burt1 who is said to have been the actual engraver of the fine plate of ,leonardo's ,last ,supper1 copied from ,morghen's print of the same subject1 and bearing the name of ,a4 ,l4 ,dick as engraver4 ,the lives of these and others not mentioned were often eventful and picturesque1 and would repay study4 ,some leaving ,england1 ,scotland1 or ,ireland in early life to settle in the land of their adoption1 had to struggle with difficulties1 often teach themselves1 make their own tools1 like ,john ,cheney1 or like ,charles ,wilson ,peale1 turn their hands to whatever duty might present itself4 ,peale was a captain of volunteers1 dentist1 lecturer on natural history1 saddler1 watchmaker1 silversmith1 painter in oil1 crayons1 or in miniature on ivory1 modeller in clay and wax1 engraver in mezzotint1 and to crown all1 as his son was wont to say1 a mild1 benevolent1 and good man4 ,many also devoted their talents to bank-note engraving1 a branch of the art highly cultivated in the ,united ,states1 in which the skill of the inventor and mechanic has been united with the grace and genius of the artist4 ,as engravers in this particular style may be specially mentioned ,w4 ,e4 ,marshall1 ,j4 ,w4 ,casilear1 ,m4 ,j4 ,danforth1 ,gideon ,fairman1 and ,jacob ,perkins1 the latter of whom1 with ,fairman and the ingenious ,asa ,spencer1 came over to ,england in #ahah to compete for the premium of #bj1jjj offered by the ,bank of ,england for a bank-note which could not be counterfeited4 ,although not successful1 the ,bank allowed them the sum of #e1jjj in consideration of their ingenuity and the trouble and expense which they had incurred in the matter4 ,while ,asa ,spencer is to be credited with inventing the method of applying the geometric lathe#gb to engraving the involved patterns on banknotes1 ,perkins has the honour of introducing the process of transfer by means of steel rollers4 ,the portrait or other design is engraved in the usual manner on a die plate1 which is then hardened2 a soft steel roller or cylinder is now rolled over the die with great pressure by means of a powerful machine1 causing the cylinder to take off in its course the impression of the design in relief2 this roller is now hardened in its turn1 and by the use of similar means made to impress another soft steel die2 by repeating this process1 any requisite number of plates can thus be reproduced the exact fac-similes of the original engraved die plate4 ,owing to the mechanical necessity that only a small surface of the roller should press on the die at a given moment1 the diameter of the cylinder requires to be small1 so that several of these dies1 and consequently of the rollers1 will be required to complete the entire plate from which the ultimate printing of the note is effected4 ,finally it may be well to conclude this brief account of the ,british school of engraving by calling attention to the considerations which ought to govern buyers of engravings2 buy only that which gives real personal satisfaction1 distrust a seller's inducements1 in price be ruled by the amount that can be justly afforded1 reject alluring thoughts of future money gain 7or be prepared to pay the sure penalty--destruction of natural artistic feeling and hope of further cultivation71 and ever bear in mind the words of ,constable to his engraver3 ,tone1 tone1 my dear ,lucas1 is the most seductive and inviting quality a picture or print can possess2 it is the first thing seen1 and like a flower1 invites to the examination of the plant itself4#gc 99 99 99 99 99 999999 ,the writer of the ,chapter on ,english ,engraving desires to acknowledge the facilities kindly placed at his disposal by ,mr4 ,sidney ,colvin1 ,keeper of ,prints and ,drawings at the ,british ,museum1 and to express his recognition of the valuable aid afforded him by ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,o',donoghue1 of the same department4 ,,chronological ,,table ,,of ,,the ,,more ,,important ,,engravers ,,belonging ,,to ,,the ,,british ,,school ,,of ,,engraving4 ,foreign ,engravers practising in ,england are marked with an asterisk4 b4 stands for born2 d41 died2 fl41 flourished2 c41 about4 #afth ,cent4 ,,raynalde1 ,thomas4 ,published in #aedj a book called ,the ,birth of ,mankind1 illustrated by copperplate engravings4 ,,geminus1 ,thomas4 ,published in #aede a translation of ,vesalius' ,anatomy1 written and illustrated with copperplates engraved by himself4 99,,hogenberg1 ,francis4 ,engraved in line a portrait of ,queen ,mary ,i4 of ,england1 bearing date #aeee4 7,there are doubts as to the correctness of this date47 99,,hogenberg1 ,remigius4 ,engraved in line portrait of ,matthew 7,brother of above47 ,parker1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 bearing date #aegc4 ,,rogers1 ,william4 b4 ,london c4 #aede4 ,engraved in line a fine whole-length portrait of ,queen ,elizabeth1 afterwards republished and reduced in size4 #agth ,cent4 99,,de ,,passe1 ,crispin4 b4 ,utrecht c4 #aefj4 ,line4 ,engraved and drew from life4 99,,de ,,passe1 ,magdalen4 b4 ,utrecht #aehc4 ,line4 7,daughter of above47 99,,de ,,passe1 ,william4 b4 ,utrecht c4 #aeij2 fl4 #afbj-bg4 ,line4 7,son of above47 99,,de ,,passe1 ,simon4 b4 ,utrecht #aeia2 d4 c4 #afdd4 ,line4 ,his 7,son of above47 earliest work in ,england dated #afac4 ,,delaram1 ,francis4 fl4 c4 #afbj4 ,line4 ,,elstracke1 ,reginald4 fl4 c4 #afbj4 ,line4 ,,peake1 ,sir ,robert4 b4 c4 #aeib2 d4 #afde4 ,line4 ,also painted portraits in miniature4 ,master of engraver ,faithorne and painter ,dobson4 99,,hollar1 ,wenceslaus4 b4 ,prague #afjg2 d4 ,london #afgg4 ,etcher1 finishing1 when necessary1 with fine graver4 99,,lombart1 ,peter4 b4 ,paris #afab2 came to ,england c4 #afec1 remaining for considerable number of years2 d4 ,paris4 ,line4 ,engraved series of twelve portraits called ,the ,countesses4 ,,faithorne1 ,william4 b4 ,london #afaf2 d4 ,london #afia4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,sir ,robert ,peake47 99,,vanderbank1 ,peter4 b4 ,paris2 of ,dutch extraction2 came to 7,pupil of ,de ,poilly47 ,england c4 #afgd2 d4 ,bradfield #afig4 ,line4 ,,barlow1 ,francis4 b4 ,lincolnshire #afbf2 d4 ,london #agjb4 ,etcher1 line engraver1 and animal painter4 ,,gaywood1 ,robert4 b4 c4 #afcj2 d4 c4 #agaa4 ,etcher and line 7,pupil of ,hollar47 engraver1 chiefly of animal subjects4 99,,loggan1 ,david4 b4 ,dantzic c4 #afcj2 d4 ,london #afic4 7,pupil of ,simon de ,line4 ,portrait and architectural ,passe47 engraver and painter4 ,,rupert1 ,prince4 b4 #afai2 d4 #afhb4 ,introduced mezzotint into ,england1 and engraved some fine prints in the method1 which were probably executed abroad4 ,,sherwin1 ,william4 b4 c4 #afej2 d4 c4 #agad4 ,engraved portrait of ,charles ,,ii4 #affi1 the earliest dated print in mezzotint authentically engraved in ,england4 ,,oliver1 ,john4 b4 #afaf2 d4 #agja4 ,glass painter2 also 7,nephew and pupil engraved in mezzotint4 of ,peter ,oliver1 miniature painter and etcher47 ,,place1 ,francis4 b4 c4 #afdj2 d4 #agbh4 ,mezzotint1 line1 etching4 fl4 #afgj4 ,a good many early mezzotint prints bear these two names1 but only as publishers 7excudit not ,,tompson1 ,richard4 sculpsit71 and there is great doubt ,,browne1 ,alexander4 if any were actually engraved by them4 ,browne wrote the ,ars ,pictoria in #affi1 in which ,the ,manner or ,way of ,mezo ,tinto is described2 published by himself1 ,tompson1 and another4 99,,blootelingh1 ,abraham4 b4 ,amsterdam #afcd2 d4 c4 #afie4 ,line and 7,pupil of ,cornelius mezzotint4 ,came to ,england for a few ,visscher47 years #afgc4 99,,valck1 ,gerard4 b4 ,amsterdam c4 #afbf2 d4 c4 #agbj4 7,pupil of ,mezzotint and line4 ,accompanied ,blootelingh47 ,blootelingh to ,england1 not leaving until after #afhj4 ,,white1 ,robert4 b4 ,london #afde2 d4 ,london #agjd4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,david ,portrait draughtsman from life4 ,loggan47 99,,vandervaart1 ,john4 b4 ,haarlem #afdg2 d4 ,london #agba4 ,mezzotinter and painter4 ,came to ,england #afgd4 99,,van ,,somer1 ,paul4 b4 ,amsterdam #afdi2 d4 ,london #afid4 7,pupil of ,john ,van ,mezzotint4 ,somer1 probably his brother47 ,,faithorne1 ,william1 b4 ,london #afef2 d4 ,london #afhf4 junr4 7,son of ,mezzotint4 ,william ,faithorne47 ,,luttrell1 ,e4 b4 ,dublin c4 #afej2 d4 c4 #agaj4 7,said to have ,mezzotinter and crayon portraitist4 learnt method of mezzotint from ,blois1 ground layer to ,blootelingh47 ,,beckett1 ,isaac4 b4 ,kent #afec2 d4 #agai4 ,mezzotint4 ,prints 7,attracted by all dated between #afha-hh4 ,luttrell's works1 learnt the method of mezzotint from ,lloyd1 a printseller1 who is said to have obtained the secret from ,blois1 ground layer to ,blootelingh47 ,,smith1 ,john4 b4 ,daventry #afeb2 d4 ,northampton #agdb4 7,pupil of ,beckett ,mezzotint4 and ,vandervaart47 ,,williams1 ,r4 b4 ,wales4 ,mezzotint4 ,prints dated c4 #afhj to #agjd4 99,,dorigny1 ,sir ,nicholas4 b4 ,paris #afeg2 d4 ,paris #agdf4 ,line4 ,settled in ,london #agaa-bd4 ,knighted by ,george ,i4 for his set of ,raphael's cartoons4 ,,lens1 ,bernard4 b4 ,london #afei2 d4 #agbe4 ,mezzotint4 99,,gribelin1 ,simon4 b4 ,blois #affa2 d4 ,england #agcc4 ,line4 ,came to ,england #afhj2 engraved first complete set of ,raphael's cartoons4 ,,lumley1 ,george4 b4 ,york latter part of #agth century4 7,friend of ,francis ,mezzotint4 ,place47 ,,white1 ,george4 b4 #afga2 d4 #agca-b4 ,mezzotint4 7,son and pupil of ,introduced slight etching into the ,robert ,white47 method4 ,engraved also in line1 and painted portraits4 #ahth ,cent4 99,,simon1 ,john b4 ,normandy #afge2 d4 ,london c4 #agee4 7or ,jean74 ,first engraved in line1 then came to ,england and devoted himself to mezzotint4 ,,vertue1 ,george4 b4 ,london #afhd2 d4 ,london #agef4 ,line2 antiquary1 wrote notes on the history of arts and artists in ,england4 ,manuscripts now in the ,british ,museum4 99,,van ,,bleeck1 ,peter4 b4 ,flanders2 d4 #agfd4 ,came to ,england #agbc ,mezzotint4 99,,faber1 ,john1 sen4 b4 ,holland2 d4 ,bristol #agba4 ,mezzotint2 also miniature painter4 ,came to ,england in #afhg with his son4 99,,faber1 ,john1 jun4 b4 ,holland #afhd2 d4 ,london #agdf4 7,son and pupil of ,mezzotint4 ,amongst others1 engraved above47 ,kit ,cat ,club and ,hampton ,court ,beauties4 ,,hogarth1 ,william4 b4 ,st4 ,bees1 ,durham1 #afig2 d4 ,london 7,first apprenticed #agfd4 ,line engraver and painter4 to silversmith47 ,,sullivan1 ,luke4 b4 co4 ,louth1 ,ireland1 #agje2 d4 ,london #agga4 ,line4 ,assistant to ,hogarth1 and engraved some of his pictures4 99,,baron1 ,bernard4 b4 ,paris c4 #agjj2 d4 ,london #agfb4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,tardieu1 ,came to ,england in #agab4 ,employed by the ,french engraver47 ,hogarth4 ,,worlidge1 ,thomas4 b4 #agjj2 d4 ,hammersmith #agff4 ,etcher and portrait painter4 ,chiefly resided at ,bath4 ,,bickham1 ,george4 d4 #agfi4 ,line and etching1 draughtsman4 ,published ,the ,universal ,penman2 father of ,george1 also an engraver and draughtsman4 99,,ravenet1 ,franois ,simon1 b4 ,paris #agjf2 d4 ,hampstead ,road #aggd4 ,a4,e4 ,line4 ,came to ,england a little before 7,pupil of ,le ,bas47 #agde1 and settled in ,london4 ,,frye1 ,thomas4 b4 near ,dublin #agaj2 d4 ,london #agfj4 ,mezzotinter and portrait painter1 chiefly lifesize4 ,,brooks1 ,john4 b4 ,ireland2 d4 ,london4 ,line and mezzotint4 ,master of ,mc,ardell and ,r4 ,houston4 ,left ,dublin c4 #agdg1 and set up a china manufactory at ,battersea4 ,mc,a,r,d,e,l,l1 ,james4 b4 ,dublin c4 #agbi2 d4 ,london #agfe4 7,pupil of ,john ,brooks1 ,mezzotint4 ,first made use of deep ,dublin47 etching to give effect to the method4 99,,canot1 ,peter b4 ,france #agaj2 d4 ,london #aggg4 ,line2 ,charles1 ,a4,e4 chiefly sea views4 ,came to ,england #agdj1 where he remained for the rest of his life4 ,,chatelaine1 ,john ,baptiste b4 ,london #agaj2 d4 ,london #agga4 ,line and ,claude4 draughtsman4 ,of ,french ,protestant parentage4 ,master of ,vivares1 for whom also he worked later on4 99,,vivares1 ,francis4 b4 ,france #agji2 d4 ,london #aghj4 ,line2 7,pupil of ,chatelaine47 landscape engraver4 ,came to ,london at the age of eighteen4 ,,tinney1 ,john4 d4 #agfa4 ,practised in ,london #agdj-ej1 in line and mezzotint2 chiefly known as master of ,woollett1 ,anthony ,walker1 and ,john ,browne4 ,,major1 ,thomas1 ,a4,e4 b4 #agbj2 d4 ,london #agii4 ,line4 ,first ,associate engraver of the ,royal ,academy4 ,,cooper1 ,richard4 b4 ,yorkshire2 d4 ,edinburgh #agfd4 ,line and mezzotint4 ,practised in ,edinburgh in #agcj1 and was the master of ,strange4 ,,strange1 ,sir ,robert4 b4 ,pomona1 ,orkney1 #agba2 d4 ,london #agib4 7,pupil of ,richard ,line4 ,cooper1 of ,edinburgh47 ,,houston1 ,richard4 b4 ,ireland #agba2 d4 ,london #agge4 7,pupil of ,john ,brooks1 ,mezzotint4 of ,dublin47 ,,baillie1 ,william1 b4 ,ireland #agbc2 d4 #ahaj4 ,etching and ,captain4 mezzotint4 ,came to ,london #agda4 ,some years in the army4 99,,bartolozzi1 ,francis1 b4 ,florence #agbe2 d4 ,lisbon #ahae4 ,r4,a4 ,stipple and line4 ,came to ,england 7,pupil of ,joseph #agfd1 remaining here till #ahjb4 ,wagner1 of ,venice47 ,,ogborne1 ,john4 b4 ,london c4 #agbe2 d4 c4 #agie4 ,stipple 7,pupil of ,bartolozzi47 and line4 ,,walker1 ,anthony4 b4 ,salisbury #agbf2 d4 ,london #agfe4 ,line 7,pupil of ,tinney47 and etching4 ,,walker1 ,william4 b4 ,thirsk #agbi2 d4 ,clerkenwell #agic4 7,pupil of his ,line2 introduced the process of brother ,anthony47 rebiting into the practice of etching4 99,,cunego1 ,domenico4 b4 ,verona #agbg2 d4 ,rome #agid4 ,line4 ,came to ,england and engraved some plates for the ,boydells4 ,,greenwood1 ,john4 b4 ,boston1 ,america1 #agbi2 d4 ,margate #agib4 ,mezzotint1 etching1 and painter4 ,afterwards became an auctioneer4 ,,spilsbury1 ,john4 b4 #agcj2 d4 ,london #agie4 ,mezzotint4 ,portrait painter4 ,gained premiums for mezzotint #agfa and #agfc from ,society of ,arts2 also printseller4 ,,dawe1 ,philip4 d4 c4 #ahjb4 ,mezzotint and painter1 said to have worked under ,hogarth4 ,was a pupil of the painter ,henry ,morland4 ,,basire1 ,james4 b4 #agcj2 d4 ,london #ahjb4 ,line4 ,his 7,pupil of ,richd4 father ,isaac1 his son ,james1 and his ,dalton1 a grandson ,james1 were also engravers4 draughtsman and engraver of moderate note47 ,,taylor1 ,isaac4 b4 ,worcester #agcj2 d4 #ahjg4 ,line4 ,his son ,isaac was also an engraver4 ,,fisher1 ,edward4 b4 ,ireland #agcj2 d4 ,london c4 #aghe4 ,mezzotint4 ,,finlayson1 ,john4 b4 c4 #agcj2 d4 c4 #aggf4 ,mezzotint4 ,resided in ,london4 ,gained premiums from ,society of ,arts #agfd and #aggc4 99,,haid1 ,johann ,gottfried4 b4 ,wurtemburg #agcj2 d4 #aggf4 ,mezzotint4 7,pupil of his father1 ,came to ,england when young1 and worked ,j4 ,jacob ,haid47 for ,boydell1 afterwards returning to ,germany4 ,his father1 ,johann ,jacob1 and his brother1 ,johann ,elias1 were also good mezzotinters4 99,,jacobe1 ,johann4 b4 ,vienna #agcc2 d4 #agig4 ,came to ,london to learn mezzotint1 engraved some fine plates1 #aggi-hj1 and then returned to ,vienna4 ,,pether1 ,william4 b4 ,carlisle #agca2 d4 #ahba4 ,mezzotint4 7,pupil of ,thomas ,frye47 ,painter in oil and miniature draughtsman4 ,,woollett1 ,william4 b4 ,maidstone #agce2 d4 ,london #aghe4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,tinney47 ,,watts1 ,john4 ,mezzotint4 ,engraved in ,london #aggj-hf2 also a printseller4 ,,brookshaw1 ,richard4 b4 #agcf2 d4 c4 #ahjd4 ,mezzotint4 ,went to ,paris about #aggb1 where his works were greatly esteemed4 ,,purcell1 ,richard4 b4 ,dublin c4 #agcf2 d4 ,london c4 #agff4 7,pupil of ,john ,brooks47 ,mezzotint4 ,came to ,london c4 #agee4 ,also worked under the names of ,c4 ,corbutt and 7probably7 ,h4 ,fowler4 ,,phillips1 ,charles4 b4 #agcg4 ,mezzotint4 ,worked chiefly after the old masters4 ,,ryland1 ,william ,wynne4 b4 ,london #agch2 d4 ,london #aghc4 ,line and 7,pupil of ,ravenet47 stipple2 also a printseller4 ,visited ,paris c4 #agfj1 and is said to have studied under ,le ,bas4 ,was hanged for forgery4 ,,green1 ,valentine1 ,a4,e4 b4 near ,birmingham #agci2 d4 ,london #ahac4 ,mezzotint4 ,engraved over twenty plates from ,dsseldorf ,gallery4 ,,hall1 ,john4 b4 near ,colchester #agci2 d4 ,london #agig4 7,pupil of ,ravenet47 ,line4 ,,blackmore1 ,thomas4 b4 ,london c4 #agdj2 d4 c4 #aghj4 ,mezzotint4 ,engravings bear date about #agfi-ga4 ,,dixon1 ,john4 b4 ,dublin c4 #agdj2 d4 early #aith century4 ,mezzotint4 ,practised in ,london1 studied in ,dublin under the painter ,f4 ,west1 a draughtsman of great power4 ,,laurie1 ,robert4 b4 ,london #agdj2 d4 c4 #ahjd4 ,mezzotint2 also printseller4 ,gained premium ,society of ,arts #agga1 and one in #aggf for facilitating printing by mezzotint in colours4 ,spells his name ,lowry1 ,lowery1 ,lowrie1 ,lawrie1 and finally ,laurie4 ,,okey1 ,samuel4 fl4 #agfe-gj4 ,mezzotint4 ,awarded premiums by ,society of ,arts in #agfe and #agfg4 ,went to ,america in #agga1 and settled at ,rhode ,island4 ,,watson1 ,james4 b4 ,ireland #agdj2 d4 ,london #agij4 ,mezzotint4 ,father of ,caroline ,watson4 ,,browne1 ,john1 ,a4,e4 b4 ,essex #agda2 d4 ,walworth #ahja4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,tinney and ,landscape engraver4 ,woollett47 ,,watson1 ,thomas4 b4 ,london #agdc2 d4 ,bristol #agha4 7,apprenticed to ,mezzotint and stipple4 ,engraved engraver on plate47 ,windsor ,beauties after ,lely2 has been stated to be the brother of ,james ,w41 but no relation2 partner with ,dickinson as printseller4 99,,tassaert1 ,philip ,j4 b4 ,antwerp2 d4 ,london #ahjc4 ,mezzotint1 also line4 ,came to ,england very young4 ,assistant to ,t4 ,hudson the painter4 ,,byrne1 ,william4 b4 ,london #agdc2 d4 ,london #ahje4 ,line4 7,pupil of his uncle1 a ,landscape engraver4 ,his son ,john and heraldic engraver1 daughters ,letitia and ,elizabeth also then of ,aliamet and engraved1 and helped him in his plates4 of ,wille1 at ,paris47 ,,earlom1 ,richard4 b4 ,london #agdc2 d4 ,london #ahbb4 ,mezzotint and stipple4 ,used etching with vigorous effect4 ,engraved a few plates under name of ,h4 ,birche2 some time a pupil of ,cipriani4 ,,dunkarton1 ,robert4 b4 ,london #agdd2 d4 early part of #aith 7,pupil of ,pether47 century4 ,mezzotint4 ,engravings bear dates #aggj-ahaa4 ,,cook1 ,thomas4 b4 c4 #agdd2 d4 c4 #ahah4 ,line4 ,engraved 7,pupil of ,ravenet47 amongst others ,hogarth's works under title ,hogarth ,restored4 ,,dickinson1 ,william4 b4 ,london #agdf2 d4 ,paris #ahbc4 ,mezzotint and stipple4 ,awarded premium ,society of ,arts #agfg4 ,for some time partner with ,thomas ,watson as printseller4 ,,townley1 ,charles4 b4 ,london #agdf4 ,mezzotint and stipple1 also miniature painter4 ,worked at ,berlin #aghf-ib1 then returned to ,london4 ,,ryder1 ,thomas4 b4 #agdf2 d4 #ahaj4 ,stipple4 ,his son 7,pupil of ,basire47 ,thomas also engraved4 ,,walker1 ,james4 b4 #agdh2 d4 ,london #ahjh4 ,mezzotint4 ,in 7,pupil of ,val4 ,green47 #aghd went to ,st4 ,petersburg1 became engraver to ,empress of ,russia1 and returned to ,england in #ahjb4 ,,murphy1 ,john4 b4 ,ireland #agdh2 d after #ahbj4 ,mezzotint and stipple4 99,,gaugain1 ,thomas4 b4 ,abbeville #agdh2 d4 beginning #aith 7,pupil of ,houston47 century4 ,stipple4 ,came very young to ,london4 ,,holloway1 ,thomas4 b4 ,london #agdh2 d4 #agbg4 ,line4 ,known chiefly from his series of ,raphael's cartoons4 ,,collyer1 ,joseph1 ,a4,e4 b4 ,london #agdh2 d4 #ahbg4 ,line and 7,pupil of ,anthony stipple4 ,walker47 ,,sharp1 ,william4 b4 ,london #agdi2 d4 ,chiswick #ahbd4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,barak ,longmate1 engraver on plate47 ,,sherwin1 ,john ,keyse4 b4 ,sussex #agdi2 d4 ,london #agij4 ,line1 7,pupil of ,bartolozzi47 stipple1 and painter4 ,,burke1 ,thomas4 b4 ,dublin2 d4 ,london #ahae4 ,stipple and 7,pupil of ,dixon47 mezzotint4 ,,strutt1 ,joseph4 b4 ,essex #agdi2 d4 ,london #ahjb4 ,stipple4 7,pupil of ,w4 ,wynne ,author of ,dictionary of ,engravers1 ,ryland47 ,sports and ,pastimes of the ,english1 c4 ,,doughty1 ,william4 b4 ,york2 d4 ,lisbon #aghb4 ,mezzotinter1 also portrait painter4 ,engravings mostly dated #aggi4 ,was a pupil of ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds4 ,sailed for ,bengal #aghj1 but1 captured by ,french and ,spanish squadrons1 was taken instead to ,lisbon4 ,,hudson1 ,henry4 b4 ,london2 d4 abroad2 fl4 #aghb-ib4 ,mezzotint4 ,,dean1 ,john4 b4 c4 #agej2 d4 ,london #agih4 ,mezzotint4 7,pupil of ,valentine ,prints dated #aggf-hi at three ,green47 addresses in ,soho1 at the last of which a fire destroyed nearly all his plates and stock4 ,,jones1 ,john4 d4 #agig4 ,mezzotint and stipple4 ,father of ,george ,jones 7b4 #aghf71 ,r4,a41 the painter4 ,,parker1 ,james4 b4 #agej2 d4 ,london #ahje4 ,line4 ,joined 7,pupil of ,basire47 ,willaim ,blake in keeping a print shop in #aghd4 ,,simon1 ,peter ,j4 b4 c4 #agej2 d4 c4 #ahaj4 ,stipple4 99,,facius1 ,george b4 ,ratisbon c4 #agej4 ,stipple4 ,came to ,sigmund4 ,london in #agff at the request of 99,,facius1 ,john ,brothers4 ,boydell4 ,gottlieb4 ,,morris1 ,thomas4 b4 c4 #agej2 fl4 #agie4 ,line4 ,engraved 7,pupil of ,woollett47 ,views of ,st4 ,paul's and the ,monument4 ,,middiman1 ,samuel4 b4 #agej2 d4 ,london #ahca4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,byrne47 ,landscape engraver4 ,,saunders1 ,j4 fl4 #aggb-gd4 ,mezzotint4 99,,marchi1 ,giuseppe b4 ,rome #ageb2 d4 ,london #ahjh4 ,filippo ,liberati4 ,mezzotint4 ,brought to ,england #agfi by ,sir ,j4 ,reynolds1 who employed him as an assistant4 ,,smith1 ,john ,raphael4 b4 ,derby #ageb2 d4 ,doncaster #ahab4 ,mezzotint and stipple4 ,painter in miniature and crayons and printseller4 ,father of ,emma ,smith the engraver4 ,,bewick1 ,thomas4 b4 ,northumberland #agec2 d4 ,gateshead 7,pupil of ,beilby1 an #ahbh4 ,wood engraver2 also copperplate4 engraver at ,his brother ,john was likewise a wood ,newcastle47 engraver4 ,,nutter1 ,william4 b4 #aged2 d4 ,london #ahjb4 ,stipple4 7,pupil of ,j4 ,r4 ,smith47 ,,young1 ,john4 b4 #agee2 d4 ,london #ahbe4 ,mezzotint4 7,pupil of ,j4 ,r4 ,smith47 ,published catalogues with etchings of the ,grosvenor 7#ahbj71 ,leigh ,court 7#ahbb71 ,angerstein 7#ahbc71 and ,stafford 7#ahbf7 ,galleries4 ,,grozer1 ,joseph4 fl4 #aghf-ig4 ,mezzotint4 ,,pollard1 ,robert4 b4 ,newcastle-on-,tyne #agee2 d4 #ahch4 7,pupil of a ,etching1 aquatint1 and painter2 last silversmith47 surviving member of ,incorporated ,society of ,artists2 in #ahcf gave over to ,royal ,academy the papers of the ,society4 ,,legat1 ,francis4 b4 ,scotland #agee2 d4 ,london #ahfi4 ,line4 ,studied under ,alex4 ,runciman1 the ,edinburgh painter4 ,,gillray1 ,james4 b4 ,lanarkshire #agbj2 d4 ,london #ahae4 7,pupil of heraldic ,etcher and line4 ,caricaturist4 engraver47 ,,heath1 ,james1 ,a4,e4 b4 ,london #ageg2 d4 ,london #ahcd4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,collyer47 ,father of ,charles ,heath4 ,,blake1 ,william4 b4 ,broad ,street1 ,golden ,square1 ,london1 7,pupil of ,basire47 #ageg2 d4 ,fountain ,court1 ,strand2 #bnd of the name4 buried ,bunhill ,fields1 #ahbg4 ,line1 stipple1 and etching4 ,poet and painter4 ,,haward1 ,francis1 ,a4,e4 b4 #agei2 d4 ,london c4 #agig4 ,mezzotint and stipple4 ,,thew1 ,robert4 b4 ,yorkshire #ageh2 d4 ,herts #ahjb4 ,stipple4 ,,smith1 ,anker1 ,a4,e4 b4 ,london #agei2 d4 ,london #ahai4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,james ,taylor1 who was brother and uncle respectively of the two ,isaac ,taylors1 engravers of some note47 ,,sheppeard1 ,george4 b4 c4 #agfj2 fl4 #agid4 ,mezzotint and stipple4 ,,tomkins1 ,p4 ,w4 b4 ,london #agfj2 d4 #ahdj4 ,stipple4 7,pupil of ,bartolozzi47 ,designer4 ,,park1 ,thomas4 b4 #agfj2 d4 ,hampstead #ahce4 ,mezzotint4 ,author4 ,,cheeseman1 ,thomas4 b4 #agfj2 d4 after #ahbj4 ,stipple4 7,pupil of ,bartolozzi47 ,draughtsman4 ,,watson1 ,caroline4 b4 ,london #agfj2 d4 ,pimlico #ahad4 ,stipple4 7,daughter of ,james ,watson47 ,,judkins1 ,elizabeth4 fl4 #aggb-ge4 ,mezzotint4 ,engraved ,mrs4 7,said to be pupil of ,abingdon and ,careful ,shepherdess1 ,james ,watson47 amongst others1 after ,sir ,j4 ,reynolds4 ,,keating1 ,george4 b4 ,ireland #agfb2 fl4 ,london #aghd-ig4 7,pupil of ,william ,mezzotint4 ,stipple4 ,dickinson47 99,,ramberg1 ,john ,henry4 b4 ,hanover #agfc2 d4 c4 #ahdj4 ,aquatint1 etching1 stipple4 ,painter4 ,came early in life to ,england1 but is said to have died at ,hanover4 99,,schiavonetti1 ,luigi4 b4 ,bassano #agfe2 d4 ,brompton #ahaj4 ,line1 stipple4 ,draughtsman4 ,came to ,england in #agij1 and joined ,bartolozzi4 ,,knight1 ,charles4 fl4 latter part of #ahth century4 ,stipple4 ,,summerfield1 ,john4 d4 ,buckinghamshire #ahag4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,bartolozzi47 ,,skelton1 ,william4 b4 ,london #agfc2 d4 ,pimlico #ahdh4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,basire and ,sharp47 ,,nugent1 ,thomas4 b4 ,drogheda2 fl4 end of #ahth century4 ,stipple4 ,,dupont1 ,gainsborough4 b4 #agfg2 d4 ,london #agig4 ,mezzotint4 ,painter4 ,nephew and pupil of ,thomas ,gainsborough4 ,,bromley1 ,william1 ,a4,e4 b4 ,isle of ,wight #agfi2 d4 #ahdb4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,wooding1 a ,father of ,john ,charles1 and ,james line engraver in ,bromley1 the mezzotint engravers4 ,london47 ,,warren1 ,charles4 b4 ,london #agfg2 d4 ,wandsworth #ahbc4 ,line4 ,perfected a process of engraving on steel plates tried by ,raimbach4 ,awarded gold medal ,society of ,arts4 ,,ward1 ,william1 ,a4,e4 b4 ,london #agff2 d4 ,london #ahbf4 7,pupil of ,j4 ,r4 ,smith47 ,mezzotint4 ,married sister of ,george ,morland1 father of ,william ,ward1 junior4 #aith ,cent4 ,,ward1 ,james1 ,r4,a4 b4 ,london #agfi2 d4 #ahee4 ,mezzotint4 7,nine years pupil of ,animal painter4 his brother ,william1 ,j4 ,r4 ,smith47 ,,landseer1 ,john1 ,a4,e4 b4 ,lincoln #agfi2 d4 #aheb4 ,line4 ,father 7,pupil of ,william of the painters ,charles and ,sir ,edwin1 ,byrne47 ,r4,a4's1 and of the engraver ,thomas4 ,,say1 ,william4 b4 near ,norwich #agfh2 d4 ,london #ahcd4 7,pupil of ,james ,ward47 ,mezzotint4 ,engraved first successful mezzotint on steel4 ,,cooper1 ,robert4 fl4 early part of #aith century4 ,stipple4 ,,hodges1 ,charles ,howard4 b4 ,england2 d4 ,amsterdam #ahcg4 ,mezzotint and painter4 ,went to ,holland c4 #agid4 99,,cardon1 ,anthony4 b4 ,brussels #aggc2 d4 ,london #ahac4 7,pupil of ,stipple4 ,came to ,england in #agij4 ,schiavonetti47 ,,godby1 ,james4 fl4 beginning #aith century4 ,stipple4 ,,smith1 ,benjamin4 d4 ,london #ahcc4 ,stipple4 7,pupil of ,bartolozzi47 ,,clint1 ,george1 ,a4,r4,a4 b4 ,london #aggj2 d4 ,kensington #ahed4 ,mezzotint2 also portrait and miniature painter4 ,,reynolds1 ,samuel ,wm4 b4 #aggc2 d4 ,bayswater #ahce4 ,mezzotint1 7,pupil of ,hodges47 portrait1 and water-colour painter4 ,father of ,elizabeth1 mezzotint engraver and miniature painter1 and ,samuel ,william1 mezzotint engraver and portrait painter4 ,,turner1 ,charles1 ,a4,e4 b4 ,woodstock #aggc2 d4 ,london #aheg4 ,mezzotint and stipple4 ,,scott1 ,john4 b4 ,newcastle-on-,tyne #aggd2 d4 ,chelsea 7,pupil of ,pollard47 #ahbh4 ,line1 animal engraver4 ,,scriven1 ,edward4 b4 ,alcester #agge2 d4 ,london #ahda4 7,pupil of ,thew47 ,stipple4 ,,raimbach1 ,abraham4 b4 ,london #aggf2 d4 ,greenwich #ahdc4 7,pupil of ,j4 ,hall47 ,line4 ,,noble1 ,george4 fl4 beginning of #aith century4 ,line4 ,,engleheart1 ,francis4 b4 ,london #agge2 d4 #ahdi4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,collyer47 ,,nesbitt1 ,charlton4 b4 near ,durham #agge2 d4 ,brompton #ahch4 7,pupil of ,beilby and ,wood engraver4 ,bewick47 ,,branston1 ,robert4 b4 ,lynn #aggh2 d4 ,brompton #ahbg4 ,wood 7,pupil of his father1 a engraver4 copperplate engraver47 ,,clennell1 ,luke4 b4 near ,morpeth #agha2 7,pupil of ,bewick47 d4 ,newcastle-on-,tyne #ahdj4 ,wood engraver1 water-colour1 and miniature painter4 ,,cooke1 ,william b4 #aggh2 d4 #ahee4 ,line4 ,brother of ,bernard4 7,pupil of ,george and uncle of ,e4 ,w4 ,cooke1 ,r4,a4 ,angus1 an engraver in line of some note47 ,,cooke1 ,george4 b4 ,london #agha2 d4 ,barnes #ahcd4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,basire47 ,brother of ,wm4 ,bernard1 and father of ,e4 ,w4 ,cooke1 ,r4,a4 ,,lewis1 ,frederick b4 ,london #aggi2 d4 ,enfield #ahef4 ,stipple ,christian4 or chalk2 water-colour painter4 ,father of ,j4 ,f4 ,lewis1 ,r4,a41 and ,c4 ,g4 ,lewis the engraver4 ,,dawe1 ,george1 ,r4,a4 b4 ,london #agha2 d4 #ahbi4 ,mezzotint2 7,son and pupil of painter4 ,brother of ,henry4 ,painted ,philip ,dawe47 in ,russia for the ,emperor #ahai-bh4 ,,dawe1 ,henry4 b4 ,london #agij2 d4 ,windsor #ahde4 7,son and pupil of ,mezzotint and painter4 ,philip ,dawe47 ,,pye1 ,john4 b4 ,birmingham #aghb2 d4 ,london #ahgd4 7,pupil of ,james ,heath47 ,line and stipple4 ,landscape engraver4 ,,wedgwood1 ,john ,taylor4 b4 #aghc2 d4 ,london #ahef4 ,line4 ,,meyer1 ,henry4 b4 ,london c4 #aghc2 d4 #ahdg4 ,mezzotint2 7,pupil of ,bartolozzi47 and stipple4 ,nephew of ,j4 ,hoppner1 ,r4,a4 ,,le ,,keux1 ,john b4 ,london #aghc2 d4 #ahdf4 ,line1 ,brothers4 architectural1 ,,le ,,keux1 ,henry b4 ,london #aghg2 d4 #ahfh4 and landscape 7,pupils of ,basire47 engravers4 ,,armstrong1 ,cosmo4 fl4 early part of #aith century4 ,line4 ,,radclyffe1 ,william4 b4 ,birmingham #aghb2 d4 ,birmingham #ahee4 ,line1 landscape engraver2 practised in ,birmingham all his life4 ,father of ,edward1 landscape engraver4 ,,burnet1 ,john1 ,f4,r4,s4 b4 ,edinburgh #aghd2 d4 ,stoke ,newington #ahfh4 ,line and mezzotint4 ,painter and author4 ,,heath1 ,charles4 b4 #aghe2 d4 #ahdh4 ,line2 excelled in 7,son of ,james ,heath47 small plates4 ,,golding1 ,richard4 b4 ,london #aghe2 d4 ,lambeth #ahfe4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,j4 ,parker47 ,,woolnoth1 ,thomas4 b4 #aghe2 d4 c4 #ahed4 ,stipple and line4 ,small theatrical portraits and architectural views4 ,,thompson1 ,john4 b4 ,london #aghe2 d4 ,london #ahff4 ,wood 7,pupil of ,branston47 engraver4 ,brother of ,charles and ,charles ,thurston4 ,,romney1 ,john4 b4 #aghf2 d4 ,chester #ahfc4 ,line4 ,,thompson1 ,charles4 b4 ,london #agia2 d4 near ,paris #ahdc4 ,wood 7,pupil of ,bewick engraver2 better known in ,paris1 where and ,branston47 he went in #ahaf1 and introduced the practice of cutting out the end of the wood1 then unknown abroad4 ,,bond1 ,william4 fl4 beginning of #aith century4 ,stipple4 ,,chapman1 ,j4 fl4 beginning of #aith century4 ,stipple4 7,pupil of ,bartolozzi47 ,,webb1 ,j4 b4 c4 #agij2 d4 #ahcb4 ,line4 ,engraver of animals4 ,,finden1 ,wm4 ,brothers4 b4 #aghh2 d4 #aheb4 ,stipple and line4 ,,finden1 ,e4 ,f4 b4 #agib2 d4 #aheg4 ,landscape and 7,pupils of ,j4 ,mitan1 an book illustrators4 engraver of some note47 ,,walker1 ,william4 b4 ,midlothian #agia2 d4 ,london #ahfg4 7,pupil of ,thomas ,stipple and mezzotint4 ,married ,woolnoth1 and ,elizabeth1 daughter of ,s4 ,w4 ,mitchell and ,reynolds4 ,stewart1 two engravers of moderate note47 ,,lupton1 ,thomas ,goff4 b4 ,clerkenwell #agia2 d4 #ahgc4 ,mezzotint4 7,pupil of ,clint47 ,established the use of steel in place of copper in mezzo engraving4 ,received for this gold ,isis medal from ,society of ,arts in #ahbb4 ,,linnell1 ,john4 b4 #agib2 d4 c4 #ahhj4 ,mezzotint2 painter4 ,,cruikshank1 ,george4 b4 ,london #agib2 d4 ,london #ahgh4 ,etcher 7,son of ,isaac1 also and caricaturist4 caricaturist and engraver47 ,,worthington1 ,wm4 ,h4 b4 c4 #agie2 d4 #ahbf4 ,line4 ,worked in ,london4 ,,goodall1 ,edward4 b4 ,leeds #agie2 d4 ,london #ahgj4 ,line4 ,engraved after ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner1 through whose influence he became an engraver4 ,was self-taught4 ,,landseer1 ,thomas1 ,a4,e4 b4 c4 #agie2 d4 #ahhj4 ,line4 ,brother of 7,son and pupil of ,sir ,edwin4 ,john ,landseer1 ,a4,e47 ,,hopwood1 ,james4 b4 #agie4 ,stipple4 7,son of ,james2 also an engraver1 self-taught1 but helped by ,heath47 ,,rolls1 ,charles4 fl4 early part of #aith century4 ,line4 ,,bromley1 ,john b4 ,chelsea #agie2 d4 #ahci4 ,mezzzotint4 ,charles4 7,son of ,his son ,frederick was also an engraver4 ,wm4 ,bromley1 ,a4,e47 ,,harvey1 ,william4 b4 ,newcastle-on-,tyne #agif2 d4 ,richmond 7,pupil of ,thomas #ahff4 ,wood engraver and designer4 ,cut ,bewick and ,b4 ,r4 one of the largest ,english wood-cuts4 ,haydon47 ,,robinson1 ,john4 b4 ,bolton #agif2 d4 ,petworth #ahga4 ,line4 ,henry1 ,r4,a4 7,pupil of ,james ,heath47 ,,graves1 ,robert1 ,a4,e4 b4 ,london #agih2 d4 ,highgate #ahgc4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,john ,romney47 ,,watt1 ,james ,henry4 b4 ,london #agii2 d4 #ahfg4 ,line4 7,pupil of ,charles ,heath47 ,,bromley1 ,james4 b4 #ahjj2 d4 #ahch4 ,mezzotint4 7,son of ,william ,bromley1 ,a4,e47 ,,ward1 ,william1 junior4 b4 c4 #ahjj2 d4 #ahdj4 ,mezzotint4 7,son of ,william ,ward1 ,a4,e47 ,,willmore1 ,james b4 ,erdington1 ,staffordshire1 #ahjj2 ,tibbetts1 ,a4,e4 d4 ,london #ahfc4 ,line4 ,engraved after 7,seven years pupil ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner4 of ,w4 ,radclyffe1 and three years of ,c4 ,heath47 ,,raddon1 ,w4 fl4 #ahcj4 ,line4 ,,hodgetts1 ,j4 fl4 #ahcj4 ,mezzotint4 ,,jackson1 ,john4 b4 ,ovingham #ahja2 d4 #ahdh4 ,wood 7,pupil of ,bewick engraver4 ,published with ,chatto ,a and ,harvey47 ,treatise on ,wood ,engraving1 #ahch4 ,,gibbon1 ,benjamin b4 #ahjb2 d4 ,london #ahea4 ,line4 ,phelps4 7,pupil of ,j4 ,h4 ,robinson and ,scriven74 ,,shenton1 ,henry b4 ,winchester #ahjc2 d4 ,london #ahff4 ,chawner4 7,pupil of ,line4 ,charles ,warren47 ,,giller1 ,w4 fl4 #ahce4 ,mezzotint4 ,,brandard1 ,robert4 b4 ,birmingham #ahje2 d4 #aheb4 ,line1 7,pupil of ,e4 ,goodall47 landscape engraver4 ,came to ,london #ahbd4 ,engraved after ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner4 ,,lewis1 ,charles ,george4 b4 #ahjg2 d4 #ahhj4 ,line1 etching4 ,,lucas1 ,john4 b4 ,london #ahjg2 d4 ,london #ahgd4 7,pupil of ,s4 ,w4 ,mezzotint2 portrait painter4 ,reynolds47 ,,radclyffe1 ,edward4 b4 ,birmingham #ahji2 d4 ,london #ahfc4 7,son and pupil of ,line4 ,william ,radclyffe47 ,,joubert1 ,jean b4 #ahaj2 d4 #ahhd4 ,line4 ,ferdinand4 ,,zobel1 ,george4 b4 c4 #ahae2 d4 ,london #ahha4 ,mezzotint4 ,,jeens1 ,charles ,henry4 b4 #ahag2 d4 #ahgi4 ,stipple4 ,miniature book illustrations4 ,,jackson1 ,john b4 ,portsmouth #ahai2 d4 ,southsea #ahgg4 ,richardson4 7,pupil of ,mezzotint and line4 ,r4 ,graves1 ,a4,e47 ,,cousins1 ,henry4 fl4 #ahdj4 ,mezzotint4 7,brother of ,saml4 ,cousins1 ,r4,a47 ,,ward1 ,george fl4 #ahdj4 ,mezzotint4 ,raphael4 7,son of ,james ,ward47 ,there are still living three engravers eminently representative of the old schools3-- ,,doo1 ,george1 ,r4,a41 ,f4,r4,s4 b4 c4 #ahjj4 ,line4 ,,posselwhite1 ,j4 ,stipple4 ,,cousins1 ,samuel1 ,r4,a4 b4 #ahja4 ,mezzotint4 ,the present ,t4 ,l4 ,atkinson was a pupil of ,cousins4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,at the present day line engravers sometimes work on steel plates1 as they are capable of supplying without damage a much greater number of proofs than can be printed from copper plates4 ,it more frequently happens that a copper plate is coated with steel before being submitted to the action of the press1 in order to preserve it1 and to increase the number of copies without taking off the edge of the workmanship4 ,that is to say1 that by means of electrotyping a thin coat of metal is superimposed1 which1 since it considerably increases the power of endurance1 increases the productiveness of the plate and the number of proofs that can be taken4 #b ,papillon1 ,trait de la ,gravure en ,bois1 #agff1 vol4 i41 ch4 #a4 #c ,pliny1 ,hist4 ,nat41 xxxv41 c4 #b4 #d ,materiali per servire alla ,storia dell' ,incisione1 c41 p4 #hc and following4 #e ,that is the ,treatises on ,latin ,syntax by lius ,donatus1 a grammarian of the fourth century4 ,in the ,middle ,ages these treatises were much used in schools4 #f ,published by ,john ,koelhoff under the name of ,cronica van der hilliger ,stat van ,coellen1 p4 #ca and after4 #g ,essai historique et critique sur l',invention de l',imprimerie4 ,lille1 #ahei4 #h ,this1 at any rate1 is what we feel tempted to do as regards the ,biblia ,pauperum1 a book containing xylographic illustrations1 whose date has been variously estimated1 and which we are disposed to believe even older than the first edition of the ,speculum4 ,heinecken1 as usual1 claims for ,germany the production of this precious collection1 which ,ottley1 with more appearance of reason1 regards as the work of an artist of the ,low ,countries1 who worked about #adbj4 ,in this way ,germany would only have the right to claim the plates added in the ,german editions published forty years later1 and which are far less perfect in point of style and arrangement than those of the original edition4 #i ,the ,dutch word coster means churchwarden1 or beadle4 #aj ,ide gnrale d'une ,collection d',estampes1 #agga1 p4 #cje4 #aa ,discours ,historique sur la ,gravure4 ,paris1 #ahjh4 #ab ,see in ,l',artiste1 #ahci1 an article entitled ,la plus ancienne ,gravure du ,cabinet des ,estampes de la ,bibliothque royale est-elle ancienne8 #ac ,notice sur deux ,estampes de #adjf1 et sur les ,commencements de la ,gravure en ,cribl4 ,gazette des ,beaux-arts1 t4 ,ier1 #b;e priode1 #ahfi4 #ad ,le ,peintre-,graveur1 ,leipzig1 #ahfj1 vol4 i41 p4 #hd4 #ae ,une ,passion de #addf4 ,suite de ,gravures au ,burin1 les premires avec ,date4 ,montpellier1 #aheg4 #af ,archiv fr die ,zeichnenden ,knste1 #aheh4 #ag ,the ,pax is a metal plate which1 at high mass and during the singing of the ,agnus ,dei1 the officiating priest gives to be kissed by the clergy and the devout1 addressing to each of them these words3 ,pax tecum4 ,the ,pax made by ,finiguerra for the ,baptistery of ,st4 ,john has been removed from thence to the ,uffizi1 where it still is4 #ah ,it is useless to adduce the fine ,profile of a ,woman1 discovered a few years ago at ,bologna1 and now the property of the ,berlin ,museum1 as an argument against the poverty we are trying to prove4 ,this very important document is not only of uncertain date1 but1 as we have remarked elsewhere1 the nature of its execution and style forbid one to look upon it as the work of any ,florentine artist4 #ai ,martin ,schongauer was born at ,colmar1 in which town his father had settled as a goldsmith2 there he passed the greatest part of his life1 and there he died in #adhh4 ,vasari sometimes speaks of him as ,antwerp ,martin1 or ,martin the ,fleming4 ,this is easily explained3 a ,german or ,flemish artist would be all one in the eyes of a ,tuscan of the fifteenth century1 as strangers were all barbarians to the ancient ,romans4 #bj ,this is by no means universally admitted to be a genuine work by ,martin ,schongauer4 #ba ,he had no fewer than eighteen children2 ,albert was the third4 #bb ,herr ,moriz ,thausing has treated this question exhaustively in his important work on ,albert ,drer4 #bc ,the oldest known dated engraving by ,marc ,antonio1 the ,pyramus and ,thisbe1 bears the date of #aeje4 ,if ,marc ,antonio1 as we have reason to think1 was born about #adhj1 he must have been already over twenty when he published this extremely commonplace print4 #bd ,michael ,huber 7,manuel des ,curieux et des ,amateurs de l',art1 t4 iii47 says1 word for word3 ,all that is wanted in these prints is a richer handling and that general aspect which we admire in the subjects engraved from ,rubens4 ,one might as well say that ,petrarch's style would be improved by being ,ariosto's4 #be ,agostino ,caracci1 who deserves to be numbered amongst the cleverest engravers of the end of the sixteenth century1 did not blush to devote his talents to a similar publication1 serious in style1 but of most obscene intention4 ,the ,bolognese artist1 like his celebrated countryman1 seems to have wished to display at once his science and his shamelessness4 ,the one only serves to make the other more inexcusable1 and it is even still more difficult to tolerate this austere immodesty than the licentiousness1 without sthetic pretension1 which characterises the little ,french prints sold under the rose in the eighteenth century4 #bf ,passavant3 ,le ,peintre-,graveur1 iii4 #e4 #bg ,les ,matres d',autrefois1 p4 #afe4 #bh ,in the ,national ,library at ,paris a collection of over a hundred trial proofs1 retouched by ,rubens himself1 exists to bear witness to the careful attention with which he overlooked the work of his engravers4 #bi ,at the time of ,callot's birth ,lorraine was not yet ,french territory2 but as it was during his life that ,nancy was taken by the king's army1 we have a right to include him among ,french artists4 #cj ,he was in all twelve years in ,italy3 three in ,rome1 and nine in ,florence4 #ca ,william ,faithorne1 the first line engraver worth mentioning in the history of ,english art1 did not even begin to be known till after ,charles ,i4 ,after the king's fall1 ,faithorne1 who was a ,royalist1 went to ,france1 where1 under ,nanteuil1 he perfected himself in his art1 and did not finally settle in ,england till near the end of #afej4 #cb ,hollar is not merely one of the most distinguished of ,german engravers4 ,there are few artists in any country who have handled the needle with so much skill and intelligence2 there is probably none who has so greatly excelled in rendering the details of apparel and of the daintiest objects4 ,his achievement numbers more than #b1jjj prints1 which1 in spite of their small size1 and the generally trifling nature of the subjects1 deserve to be classed amongst the most remarkable etched work of the seventeenth century4 #cc ,his first plates are sometimes signed ,de ,leeuw1 sometimes ,tomaes de ,leu1 which has led many writers--,m4 ,robert-,dumesnil among them--to suppose that he migrated to ,paris from a town in ,flanders4 #cd ,it represents a ,holy ,family1 with this inscription on a stone1 to the right3 ,r4 ,nanteuil ,philosophi ,auditor ,sculpebat ,rhemis ,ano dni #afde4 #ce ,these flights were not ,nanteuil's last4 ,there is extant a sort of petition in verse1 which he one day presented to ,louis ,,xiv4 to excuse himself for not having finished in time a portrait ordered by the king4 ,these rhymes1 quoted by the ,abb ,lambert in his ,histoire ,littraire du ,rgne de ,louis ,,xiv41 and some others composed by ,nanteuil in praise of ,mlle4 de ,scudry1 are not such to make us regret that he did not more frequently lay aside the graver for the pen4 #cf ,the greater part of ,nanteuil's drawings are in three crayons1 made out in places with light tints in pastel4 ,the colour is sober and delicate1 and offers a good deal of resemblance to the charming ,french crayons of the sixteenth century4 ,nanteuil doubtless produced many portraits which he never engraved1 but he engraved very few that he had not previously produced4 ,it must also be remarked1 that in his achievement1 which is composed of more than two hundred and thirty pieces1 there are not more than eighteen subject pictures or illustrations4 ,it is worthy1 too1 of special note that there are only eight portraits in which the hands are seen1 and in six of these only one hand is shown4 #cg dit de ,saint ,jean-de-,luz1 #affj4 #ch ,claude1 it is true1 was still alive in #affg2 but after his second installation in ,rome 7#afbg71 he never saw ,france again4 #ci ,vitet3 ,eustache ,lesueur4 #dj ,it is said that ,lebrun one day proclaimed that ,audran had improved his pictures4 ,it is possible he may have said1 that he had not spoilt them4 ,such an expression in the mouth of such a man is quite modest enough2 but it is difficult to imagine ,lebrun so far humbling himself in public4 #da ,we said that ,edelinck was born at ,antwerp2 but as he was very young when he took up his abode in ,france1 and as he never returned to his native country1 we may be allowed to include him in the ,french school with as much right as his countryman1 ,philippe de ,champaigne4 #db ,amongst ,audran's most distinguished scholars1 we need only mention the following names3 ,gaspard ,duchange2 ,dorigny1 summoned to ,london by ,queen ,anne2 ,louis ,desplaces2 and ,nicolas ,henri ,tardieu1 founder of a family of clever engravers1 the last of whom died in #ahdd1 worthy of the name he bore4 #dc ,engraver of the ,assumption of ,philippe de ,champaigne4 ,he must not be confused with another ,bartholomew ,kilian1 his ancestor1 and the head of a family in which there are no less than twenty engravers4 #dd ,some of these little unpretentious amateur prints are not without charm2 some even show a certain amount of talent in the execution1 and the portraits drawn and engraved by ,carmontelle1 the author of the ,proverbes1 deserve1 amongst others1 to be mentioned on that account4 #de ,in his landscapes1 ,woollett makes use of etching1 line1 and the dry-point1 all three4 ,philippe ,le ,bas was the first to make use of dry-point to render the misty tones of distances and the clearness of skies4 ,this mode of engraving1 improved by ,vivars1 was carried to its highest perfection by ,woollett4 ,certain ,english artists of the same period tried to apply the process of mezzotint to landscape engraving2 but the landscapes engraved in this way by ,watson and ,brookshaw1 after the ,german ,kobell1 will not bear comparison with ,woollett's4 #df ,in a work dedicated to ,pitt1 ,on the ,origin of ,trade and its ,history to the ,present ,times 7,london1 #agij71 we read that the prints exported from ,england at that time were1 as compared with those imported from ,france1 in the proportion of five hundred to one by the most exact computation1 and that the trade in ,english engravings1 far from being restricted to one or two countries1 extended all over ,europe4 #dg ,the credit of the invention is really due to ,jean ,charles ,franois1 born at ,nancy in #agag4 ,but the application that ,franois made of his discovery was--if we consider the improvements introduced soon afterwards by ,demarteau--still so incomplete that it seems only fair to attribute to the latter a principal share in the original success4 #dh ,lettre de ,cochin1 ,secrtaire perptuel de l',acadmie1 au ,sieur ,franois1 #bfth ,november1 #ageg4 #di ,before giving himself up almost exclusively to the practice of aquatint1 ,debucourt produced a large number of engravings in colour3 ,le ,jardin and ,la ,galerie de ,bois au ,palais ,royal1 the ,promenade aux ,tuileries1 ,l',escalade1 and so forth4 ,we know the ardour1 verging on mania1 with which these prints1 albeit of little value from an artistic point of view1 are now collected4 #ej ,this important publication contains1 in four sections1 the most remarkable pictures and sculptures of the ,louvre1 as it existed after ,napoleon had enriched it with masterpieces from every school4 ,begun in #ahjb1 it was continued till #ahaa4 #ea ,this fine cathedral1 burnt with so many other churches in the great fire1 was #fij feet in length1 #acj feet broad1 and #ebj feet high at the top of the spire4 #eb ,the tear-shaped pieces of glass 7,lachrim ,vitre71 which resist hard blows applied at the thick end1 yet fly to pieces the moment a fragment is broken off the fine end1 were first brought to ,england by ,prince ,rupert1 and are called popularly ,prince ,rupert's drops4 #ec ,this print represents a tall1 powerful-looking man1 standing with naked sword in one hand1 and holding up in the other the head of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist4 #ed ,other names given to mezzotint out of ,england are3 ,schwarzkunst1 black art2 ,la manire anglaise1 ,l'incisione a foggia nera1 engraving in black fashion or manner4 #ee ,this engraver must not be confused with ,john ,keyse ,sherwin1 whose line engravings produced a century later are well known4 #ef ,this ,club was instituted in #agjc1 the year after the accession of ,queen ,anne1 to promote the ,protestant succession1 the members meeting at the ,cat and ,fiddle in ,shire ,lane1 ,fleet ,street1 kept by ,christopher ,kat1 from whom it took the name4 ,the particular size known amongst artists as ,kit-cat1 just below the waist and not quite three-quarter length1 also acquired its name from this series of portraits1 which were painted their particular length to suit the walls of ,tonson's villa at ,barn ,elms4 #eg ,john ,riley1 ,jonathan ,richardson1 ,michael ,dahl1 ,john ,closterman1 ,john ,vanderbank1 and ,thomas ,hudson4 #eh ,the date of ,mc,ardell's birth is often erroneously given as #agaj instead of #agbh-i according to the above authority4 #ei ,james ,walker must not be confused either with ,anthony and his brother ,william1 or with the stipple and mezzotint engraver ,william ,walker of the present century4 ,james ,walker's prints are not numerous1 a great number of his plates and prints having been lost from the foundering of the vessel which was bringing them back to ,england from ,russia1 where ,walker had lived for seventeen years1 having been appointed in #aghd engraver to the ,empress ,catherine4 #fj ,a painter more generally known as ,langen ,jan1 born at ,munster in #afaj1 the correct name being ,john or ,johann van ,bockhorst2 the name1 however1 appears as above in the engraving4 #fa ,on the foundation of the ,royal ,academy in #agfh1 ,bartolozzi1 to the exclusion of ,strange and ,woollett1 was admitted one of the first forty members with full membership2 all engravers afterwards up to the year #ahee could only be elected as associate members4 #fb ,this engraver was in no way related to the better-known stipple and historical engraver of the same name who flourished in the present century4 #fc ,woollett was buried in ,old ,st4 ,pancras ,churchyard2 on a plain tombstone which marks the spot were found one day written in pencil the two lines-- ,here ,woollett rests1 expecting to be sav'd1 ,he graved well1 but is not well engrav'd4 ,shortly afterwards a subscription was raised1 to which ,benjamin ,west and ,john ,boydell contributed1 for the purpose of erecting the above-mentioned tablet which now stands in the ,west ,cloister4 #fd ,opie painted a life-size head of ,s4 ,w4 ,reynolds1 and of his daughter ,elizabeth as ,red ,riding ,hood 7exhibited at the winter exhibition of the ,royal ,academy1 #ahgf72 this portrait of herself ,elizabeth engraved in mezzotint at the age of fourteen4 #fe ,father of the late ,e4 ,w4 ,cooke1 ,r4,a4 #ff ,walker engraved the portrait of ,raeburn with the special purpose of proving the contrary4 #fg ,john ,lucas1 the well-known portrait painter and also engraver in mezzotint1 was likewise a pupil of ,reynolds4 #fh ,the plate of ,salisbury ,cathedral was engraved at ,constable's expense and published in #ahcg by ,messrs4 ,hodgson1 ,graves and ,co41 for the painter4 ,after his sudden death in the same year it was sold at ,foster's1 ,pall ,mall1 in #ahch1 and bought in for eighty guineas1 hardly the price of two proofs at the present time4 ,through the kindness of ,mr4 ,algernon ,graves1 the writer has had access to many manuscript notes written by ,david ,lucas4 #fi ,brother of ,samuel ,cousins1 ,r4,a4 #gj ,better known in ,france1 where he settled in #ahaf1 he died in the neighbourhood of ,paris in #ahdc1 and introduced there the mode of cutting on the end of the grain instead of with the grain as was before the practice4 #ga ,first introduced in #ahdj1 although not in general practice until some years later4 #gb ,on the principle of that which is known as engine turning1 as seen on the back of watch-cases4 #gc ,it is also necessary to point out that no impression damaged from course of time or printed from a worn-out plate can give any idea of the original engraving as a work of art4 ,other things being equal1 proofs are prim facie likely to be the best impressions1 but a good print 7that is a later impression71 if in good condition1 is far more valuable than a damaged or rubbed proof1 however early the state may be4 ,,index4 ,,page ,agesilaus1 ,king of ,sparta1 #h ,agostino1 ,veniziano1 #ajf ,aldegrever1 #ic ,ambling1 ,gustave1 #bji ,amman1 ,jost1 #age ,andrea1 ,zoan1 #gd ,andreani1 ,andrea1 #aaa ,andrews1 ,j41 #cbh ,antonio da ,brescia1 ,giovanni1 #gd ,ardell1 #agb1 #cjj1 #cja ,aretino1 ,pietro1 #aji1 #aaj1 #acf ,d',argenville1 #bbd ,atkinson1 #cbd ,aveline1 #baf ,audran1 ,grard1 #f1 #agh1 #aid-bjb1 #bjg1 #baa1 #baf1 #bcg ,baillie1 ,will1 #caj ,baldini1 ,baccio1 #fj-fe ,balechou1 #bbi-bca ,barbari1 ,jacopo de'1 #gd ,barlow1 ,f41 #bia1 #bib ,bartolozzi1 #bcg-bci1 #cje1 #cac1 #cad ,battista del ,porto1 #gg ,baudet1 tienne1 #ahi ,beatrizet1 ,nicolas1 #aea ,beauvarlet1 #bbf ,beckett1 ,isaac1 #big1 #bih ,beham1 ,bartholomew1 #ic1 #id ,beham1 ,hans ,sebald1 #ic1 #id ,bella1 ,stefano della1 #afb ,berghem1 #aci ,bernard1 ,auguste1 #ab ,bernhardinus1 ,milnet1 #dd ,bernini1 #afh ,bertinot1 #bgh ,bervic1 #bdi1 #beb-bee1 #bei1 #bfj1 #bgd ,bewick1 #cae1 #cbf ,binck1 ,jacob1 #id ,biot1 #bhe ,blackmore1 #cjb ,blake1 ,w41 #caj1 #caa ,blanchard1 #bgh ,blootelingh1 ,abraham1 #big ,b ,m1 #he ,bochelt1 ,franz von1 #hd ,boldrini1 ,nicol1 #aaf ,bolswert1 #acb1 #acc1 #adi1 #agg ,bonasone1 da ,bologna1 #ajf ,bonnet1 #bdb ,bonzonnet1 ,claudine1 #ahi ,borromini1 #afh ,bosse1 ,abraham1 #afd1 #aff1 #afi1 #bjg ,both1 ,jan1 #aci ,botticelli1 #fj1 #fb ,boulanger1 #bcg ,boydell1 #cae ,boyvin1 ,ren1 #aea ,branston1 ,r41 #cbf ,brauwer1 ,adrian1 #aci ,breughels1 #acd ,bromley1 #cbj ,brookshaw1 #bcd1 #cjb ,browne1 ,john1 #cjg ,bruyn1 ,nicolas van1 #aca ,burgkmair1 ,hans1 #aac ,burke1 #cad ,burnet1 ,john1 #cbj ,burt1 #cbh ,calamatta1 #bfi ,callot1 ,jacques1 #ach1 #aef-aff1 #age-agg1 #bje ,canta-,gallina1 #aeh1 #afb ,cantarini1 #afb ,caracci1 ,agostino1 #aaj1 #ach1 #aeh ,caracci1 ,annibale1 #afh ,caraglio1 ,giovanni1 da ,verona1 #ajf ,cardon1 ,anthony1 #cac ,carmona1 #bbf ,carmontelle1 #bbd ,carpi1 ,ugo da1 #aaa1 #aab ,cars1 ,laurent1 #bac-baf ,casilear1 #cbi ,caylus1 ,count1 #bbd1 #bdj ,cerceau1 du1 ,adrian1 #aee ,chapman1 #cbg ,chauveau1 #bjd ,chedel1 #bag ,cheesman1 #cad ,cheney1 #cbh ,chevreuse1 ,duc de1 #bbd ,chodowiecki1 #bbh ,church1 #cbg ,cipriani1 #bcg ,claessens1 ,alart1 #acj ,clennell1 #cbf ,clint1 ,george1 #cbj ,cochin1 #bah1 #bai1 #bdj ,coigny1 ,marquis de1 #bbd ,cooke1 ,george ,william1 #cbj ,copia1 #beb ,corneille1 ,claude1 #aec ,cornelis1 #acd ,cornelius1 #id ,cort1 ,cornelius1 #acj ,cortona1 da1 ,pietro1 #aih ,coster1 ,laurence1 #ad1 #af1 #bb1 #bh ,cousin1 #aej1 #aea ,cousins1 ,henry1 #cbd ,cousins1 ,samuel1 #bff1 #bfg1 #cbb ,cranach1 ,lucas1 #aac ,cunego1 ,domenichino1 #bbh ,cunio1 ,cavaliere ,alberico1 #i ,dagoty1 ,gautier1 #bdc ,danforth1 #cbi ,danguin1 #bgh ,daull1 #bbf ,david1 ,emeric1 #aj1 #ca ,david1 ,louis1 #bdh1 #bej ,dawe1 ,henry1 #cbj ,dean1 ,john1 #cjb ,de ,bry1 #bhg ,debucourt1 #bde ,de ,kaiser1 #bhe ,delaram1 ,franois1 #bhi ,delaune1 tienne1 #aea1 #aec1 #aed ,de ,leu1 ,thomas1 #aef1 #aeg1 #agi ,demarteau1 ,gilles1 #bci-bdb ,de ,passe1 ,crispin1 #bhh ,de ,passe1 ,magdalen1 #bhh ,de ,passe1 ,simon1 #bhh ,desnoyers1 ,boucher1 #bdi1 #bei1 #bfj1 #bgj1 #bgd ,desplaces1 ,louis1 #bja ,deuchar1 ,david1 #caj ,dick1 #cbh ,dickinson1 #agb1 #cjb ,dienecker1 ,jost41 #aaa ,dixon1 ,john1 #cjb ,domenichino1 #afh ,doo1 #cbd ,dorigny1 #bja ,drevet1 ,claude1 #baa ,drevet1 ,imbert1 #baa ,drevet1 ,pierre1 #baa ,duchange1 ,gaspard1 #bja ,duflos1 #baf ,du ,jardin1 ,karel1 #adj ,dumonstier1 ,geofroy1 #aea ,dupuis1 #baf1 #bbf ,durand1 #cbh ,drer1 ,albert1 #ag1 #hg-ie1 #ig-ajj1 #ajb1 #ajf1 #aab1 #aac1 #aaf1 #abj1 #abb1 #abh1 #agf1 #agg ,duveneck1 #cbg ,duvet1 ,jean1 #aea1 #aeb ,earlom1 #agb1 #cjb1 #cjc ,edelinck1 #ahd-ahf1 #ahi1 #aia-aif1 #bjj1 #bbj ,edwin1 ,david1 #cbh ,elstracke1 ,reginald1 #bhi ,faber1 ,john1 senior1 #bih1 #bii ,faber1 ,john1 junior1 #bih1 #bii ,fairman1 #cbi ,faithorne1 ,will1 #agj1 #bhi ,felsing1 #bfc ,finiguerra1 #ce1 #ch1 #dg1 #eb-ef1 #fb1 #gf ,fiquet1 #bah1 #bbj1 #bbb1 #bbc ,fisher1 ,edward1 #cja ,flipart1 #bag ,forrest1 ,j4 ,b41 #cbh ,francia1 ,francesco1 #ajb ,francia1 ,jacopo1 #gd ,franck1 #bhe ,franois1 ,alphonse1 #bgh ,franois1 ,jean ,charles1 #bci-bdb ,franois1 ,jules1 #bgf ,frye1 ,thomas1 #cjj1 #cja ,fst1 #bi ,gaillard1 #bgh ,gantrel1 #ahi ,garnier1 ,noel1 #aea ,gaugain1 ,thomas1 #cac ,gaultier1 ,leonard1 #aef1 #agi ,gaywood1 ,r41 #bib ,geminus1 ,thomas1 #bhh ,gherardo da ,modena1 #hb ,ghisi1 ,diana1 #ajf ,gifford1 #cbg ,giller1 ,william1 #cbd ,gilli1 #bhb ,gimbrede1 #cbh ,giolito da ,ferrari1 #aae ,giotto1 #ec ,girard1 #bdf ,glockenton1 #he ,golding1 ,richard1 #cbj ,goltzius1 ,hendrik1 #acj1 #aca ,gomboust1 ,jacques1 #bjc ,gourmont1 ,jean de1 #aec ,goya1 #aci ,grateloup1 #bbj ,gravelle1 de1 ,president1 #bbd ,graves1 ,robert1 #cbd ,greche1 ,domenico delle1 #aaf ,green1 ,valentine1 #agb1 #cjb ,greenwood1 ,john1 #cja ,greuze1 #baf ,grn1 ,baldung1 #ic ,gutenburg1 #h1 #ac-ae1 #ag1 #ah1 #bh1 #ce1 #dg1 #di1 #ea1 #ec1 #ed1 #fj1 #gf-gh1 #hb1 #hf1 #agf ,haden1 ,seymour1 #bhb1 #cbe1 #cbf ,haid1 #cjd ,hainzelmann1 ,johann1 #bjh ,hamerton1 #cbf ,hardouin1 #hb ,harvey1 ,will1 #cbf ,heath1 ,charles1 #cbj1 #cbi ,heath1 ,james1 #cji1 #cae ,henriquel-,dupont1 #bga-bgg ,hogarth1 ,william1 #bca-bcc1 #cjj1 #cjd ,hogenberg1 ,franois1 #bhh ,hogenberg1 ,remigius1 #bhh ,hollar1 #agj1 #aga1 #agg1 #bhg1 #bij-bib ,hopwood1 ,james1 #cbj ,houbraken1 ,j41 #bbh ,houston1 ,richard1 #cja ,huot1 #bgh ,il ,vecchio da ,parma1 #ajf ,ingram1 #bbf ,jackson1 #cbd1 #cbf ,jacobe1 #cjd ,jacobi1 #bhe ,jacquemart1 #bhj-bhc ,jazet1 #bde1 #bdf ,jeens1 ,c4 ,h41 #cad ,jeens1 ,j4 ,h41 #cbe ,jones1 ,john1 #cjb ,kauffmann1 ,angelica1 #bcg ,kaulbach1 #id ,keller1 ,franz1 #bfb ,kilian1 ,bartholomew1 #bji ,kirkall1 ,edw41 #caa-cac ,klaus1 #bhe ,kobell1 #bcd ,laborde1 ,lon1 #ab1 #cf-ch ,landseer1 ,john1 #cbj ,larmessin1 ,nicolas de1 #baf ,lasne1 ,michel1 #ahj ,lastman1 #bdc ,laugier1 #bgf ,law1 ,david1 #cbf ,lawrie1 ,robert1 #cjb ,le ,bas1 #baf1 #bcd ,leblond1 ,j4 ,christophe1 #bdb1 #bdc1 #caa1 #cab ,lebrun1 #ahd1 #ahg1 #ahi1 #aid1 #aif1 #aih1 #aii ,leclerc1 ,sebastien1 #ahd1 #bjd ,legat1 ,f41 #cji ,le ,josphin1 #aeh ,lepautre1 #bjd ,lepici1 #baf1 #bcj ,leprince1 ,j4 ,b41 #bdd ,le ,roy1 ,philip1 #acd ,levasseur1 #bag ,lewis1 #cbd ,leyden1 ,lucas van1 #aah-aca1 #acd1 #agf ,linton1 #cbf ,longhi1 #bef ,lorraine1 ,claude1 #ach1 #afj1 #afb1 #afe1 #afg1 #agg ,louis1 ,aristide1 #bgf ,loutherbourg1 #bca ,lucas1 ,david1 #cbb-cbd ,lucas1 ,john1 #cbb ,ludy1 #bfb ,lupton1 ,thomas1 #cbj ,lutma1 ,jan1 #bch ,ltzelburger1 #aac-aae ,luynes1 ,duchess of1 #bbd ,maitre l'crevisse1 #acj ,maitre l'toile1 #acj ,major1 ,thomas1 #cjd ,mantegna1 ,andrea1 #fh-gd1 #he1 #abd1 #agf1 #agg ,mantovani1 #ajf ,marc ,antonio1 ,raimondi1 #ff1 #gc1 #ia1 #ib1 #ajj-aac1 #abj1 #abb1 #abd1 #acc1 #agf-agh ,marc de ,bye1 #adj ,marco da ,ravenna1 #ajf ,marcolini da ,forli1 #aae ,marshall1 #cbi ,massaloff1 #bhb ,massard1 #bej ,mass1 #bbi ,masson1 #ahi1 #aid1 #baa ,master of the ,bird1 #gg ,master of the ,caduceus1 #gd ,master of ,colmar1 #gf ,master of ,nuremberg1 #id ,master of the ,streamers1 #aah ,master of #adff1 #di1 #ea1 #ec1 #gf-gh1 #hb1 #hf ,masters1 ,the ,little1 #ic1 #afb1 #afi1 #agg ,mechenen1 ,israel van1 #hd ,mellan1 ,claude1 #ahj ,memling1 #bb ,mendel1 #bfc ,mercuri1 #bfi ,merian1 ,matthew1 #agj ,merz1 #bfb ,meyer1 ,henry1 #cbj ,mignard1 #aid1 #aif ,mocetto1 #gd1 #ge ,mols1 ,pascal1 #bbf ,montenay1 ,georgette de1 #aef ,moran1 #cbg ,morel1 #bej ,morghen1 #ajf1 #bee-beh1 #bfj1 #bfi ,morin1 ,jean1 #f1 #agi1 #aha1 #baa1 #bcg ,morris1 ,thomas1 #cji ,moser1 #bcg ,mller1 ,christian ,fred1 #beh-bfa ,mller1 ,jan1 #acj1 #aca ,mller1 ,john ,godard1 #beh1 #bei ,musi1 ,agostino1 #aea ,nanteuil1 ,robert1 #ahj-ahd1 #ahf1 #ahi-aib1 #aid1 #bjb1 #bji1 #baa1 #bbj ,nesbitt1 #cbf ,niccol della ,casa1 #aeb ,niccol1 of ,pisa1 #ec ,nicoletto da ,modena1 #gd1 #hb ,ogborn1 ,john1 #cad ,ostade1 ,adrian van1 #aci ,ottley1 #cbh ,parrish1 ,stephen1 #cbg ,peale1 ,charles ,wilson1 #cbh ,pencz1 ,georg1 #ic ,pennell1 #cbg ,perkins1 #cbi ,pesne1 ,jean1 #ahg-ahi1 #aic1 #aid ,pether1 ,william1 #cjb ,petitot1 #bbj1 #bbb ,pichler1 #cjd ,pitau1 ,nicolas1 #aia ,poilly1 ,franois de1 #ahi1 #aia1 #aid1 #bjd1 #bjg1 #bji ,pollajuolo1 ,antonio1 #ee1 #fb1 #he ,pompadour1 ,mme4 de1 #bbd1 #bbe ,pontius1 ,paul1 #acb1 #acc1 #adi1 #agg ,porporati1 #bbf1 #bbg ,posselwhite1 #cbd ,potter1 ,paul1 #ach1 #aci ,poussin1 #afj ,preisler1 ,martin1 #bbf ,prestel1 ,katherine1 #bcg ,prvost1 #bdf ,raimbach1 ,abraham1 #bff1 #bfg ,raimondi 7see ,marc ,antonio74 ,raphael1 #aja-ajh ,reboul1 ,mme41 #bbd ,redlich1 #bhb ,regent1 ,the ,prince1 of ,france1 #bbc ,regnesson1 #ahb ,rgnier1 ,mathurin1 #afj ,rembrandt1 #ajd1 #abh1 #adj-adh1 #agg ,reynolds1 ,sir ,j41 #agb1 #bca1 #bcc ,reynolds1 ,samuel1 #bff1 #bfg1 #cag-cbb ,ribera1 #aci1 #age ,richomme1 #bgf ,rigaud1 #baa1 #bad ,ritchie1 #cbh ,robert1 #bhd ,robetta1 #fg ,robinson1 #cbd ,roger1 ,barthlemy1 #beb ,rogers1 ,william1 #bhh ,romano1 ,giulio1 #ajb1 #ajh-aaj ,rosa1 ,salvator1 #aei ,roullet1 #ahi1 #aid ,rousseaux1 #bgf ,rubens1 #aca-acc1 #agf1 #agh ,rupert1 ,prince1 #aga-agc1 #bib1 #bif ,ruysdael1 ,j41 #aci ,ryder1 ,thomas1 #cad ,ryland1 #bbf1 #bbh1 #bch1 #bci1 #bgj1 #cji1 #caj ,st4 ,aubin1 ,augustin1 #bah-bba ,st4 ,non1 ,abb de1 #bdj ,saint-,ygny1 #afd ,sanson1 ,adrien1 #bjc ,sanson1 ,guillaume1 #bjc ,sartain1 ,john1 #cbh ,savart1 #bbj ,say1 ,william1 #cbj ,schffer1 #bfb ,schaflein1 ,hans1 #ic1 #aac ,schmidt1 #bbf ,schn1 ,bartholomew1 #hd ,schongauer1 ,martin1 #gf1 #gh-hf1 #ia1 #aag1 #agf1 #agg ,scott1 ,john1 #cbj ,scultori1 ,diana 7see ,ghisi74 ,seghers1 #bdc ,selma1 ,fernando1 #bbh ,sharp1 ,william1 #cje1 #cjh1 #cji1 #cae ,sherborne1 ,w4 ,h41 #cbe ,sherwin1 ,john ,keyse1 #big1 #cji ,sherwin1 ,william1 #bif1 #big ,silvestre1 ,israel1 #ach1 #afd1 #agg ,simon1 ,jean1 #bih 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,ulric1 #ad-af ,,printed ,,by ,,cassell ,,company1 ,,limited1 ,,la ,,belle ,,sauvage1 ,,london1 ,e4,c4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,simple typographical errors were corrected4 ,ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained4 ,when necessary1 illustrations were moved so as to not interrupt the flow of text4 ,footnotes were moved to the end of the book1 just before the ,index4 ,table of ,contents lists ,a ,,chapter ,,on ,,english ,,engraving as being on page #bgh1 but it is on page #bhg4 ,corrected here4 ,page #ccj3 ,three asterisks represent an inverted asterism4