BACK TO GALLERY
Hill-Stone, Inc.
Federico Barocci
The Annunciation.
Etching and engraving
Italy
c. 1582
Federico Barocci engraving & etching of The Annunciation
17 1/4 x 12 1.4 inches 438 x 311 mm
description
FEDERICO BAROCCI Urbino 1535 – 1612 Urbino
The Annunciation.
Etching and engraving; circa 1582. Bartsch 1, the second of two states, with the inscription lower right[1]. A brilliant impression, the finest we have ever seen in trade. In excellent condition, with fresh surfaces; small margins all around, laid on to an old album sheet. Provenance: Dr. C. A. Widstrand (1866-1956), Sweden, Lugt 2630a; an unidentified mark in red; Frank Bensow (1883-1969), Göteborg, Sweden, thence by descent.
Barocci was very much admired for his religious paintings, which embodied the new interest in direct depiction of emotion in art. He was the leading painter of altar retables in Italy in the second half of the 16th century[2]. Barocci’s altars are in place in many different churches in Italy, but are rarely accessible to an international public and were not fully appreciated until the mid- 20th century.
The etching represents Barocci’s Annunciation, commissioned by Duke Francesco Maria della Rovere for an altarpiece for a chapel in the Basilica in Loreto, painted between 1582 and 1584; the painting is now in the Pinacoteca, in the Vatican. Our etching represents Barocci’s most important graphic work and is unquestionably one of the masterpieces of Italian etching in the last quarter of the 16th century. The design of the image is a brilliant emotional construction,
showing the Angel kneeling before the Madonna. The small room in which the Annunciation takes place is flooded with light from the window between them dramatizing the interplay of gestures and the pairing of a beautiful young Madonna with a robust male Angel.
The print has been discussed in terms of Barocci, the painter rather than graphic technician, and therefore, his reliance upon engraved reinforcements of areas of the etching. This apology for the artist’s apparent shortcomings suggests a misunderstanding of the print. To this point, the impression of the early state at British Museum, before the inscription at the lower right and much of the engraved shading, demonstrates how much the engraving adds to the brilliant shadows and the transparency of these shadowed areas which give such physical life to the forms and space. Without this transparency, the daring contrasts of the figures against the dark background which endows the scene with extraordinary immediacy and power would seem merely dark and opaque.
The etching evidently was much admired and while many impressions survive, relatively few early impressions survive in which the engraving and etching are very well integrated. Later impressions are patchy and gray and thus fail to convey the emotional power of the image. Our impression is the only impression we have seen in trade which conveys the full range of visual richness and emotional depth inherent in the design.
The artist’s masterpiece in printmaking.
[1] An impression before the inscription is unique at the British Museum. The BM impression, V, 8.152, is also before much additional engraving work throughout, notably on the Madonna’s head and in her hair, the drapery of both figures and the view to the distant landscape.
[2] The Dictionary of Art, vol. 3, p. 253 ff.
The Annunciation.
Etching and engraving; circa 1582. Bartsch 1, the second of two states, with the inscription lower right[1]. A brilliant impression, the finest we have ever seen in trade. In excellent condition, with fresh surfaces; small margins all around, laid on to an old album sheet. Provenance: Dr. C. A. Widstrand (1866-1956), Sweden, Lugt 2630a; an unidentified mark in red; Frank Bensow (1883-1969), Göteborg, Sweden, thence by descent.
Barocci was very much admired for his religious paintings, which embodied the new interest in direct depiction of emotion in art. He was the leading painter of altar retables in Italy in the second half of the 16th century[2]. Barocci’s altars are in place in many different churches in Italy, but are rarely accessible to an international public and were not fully appreciated until the mid- 20th century.
The etching represents Barocci’s Annunciation, commissioned by Duke Francesco Maria della Rovere for an altarpiece for a chapel in the Basilica in Loreto, painted between 1582 and 1584; the painting is now in the Pinacoteca, in the Vatican. Our etching represents Barocci’s most important graphic work and is unquestionably one of the masterpieces of Italian etching in the last quarter of the 16th century. The design of the image is a brilliant emotional construction,
showing the Angel kneeling before the Madonna. The small room in which the Annunciation takes place is flooded with light from the window between them dramatizing the interplay of gestures and the pairing of a beautiful young Madonna with a robust male Angel.
The print has been discussed in terms of Barocci, the painter rather than graphic technician, and therefore, his reliance upon engraved reinforcements of areas of the etching. This apology for the artist’s apparent shortcomings suggests a misunderstanding of the print. To this point, the impression of the early state at British Museum, before the inscription at the lower right and much of the engraved shading, demonstrates how much the engraving adds to the brilliant shadows and the transparency of these shadowed areas which give such physical life to the forms and space. Without this transparency, the daring contrasts of the figures against the dark background which endows the scene with extraordinary immediacy and power would seem merely dark and opaque.
The etching evidently was much admired and while many impressions survive, relatively few early impressions survive in which the engraving and etching are very well integrated. Later impressions are patchy and gray and thus fail to convey the emotional power of the image. Our impression is the only impression we have seen in trade which conveys the full range of visual richness and emotional depth inherent in the design.
The artist’s masterpiece in printmaking.
[1] An impression before the inscription is unique at the British Museum. The BM impression, V, 8.152, is also before much additional engraving work throughout, notably on the Madonna’s head and in her hair, the drapery of both figures and the view to the distant landscape.
[2] The Dictionary of Art, vol. 3, p. 253 ff.
SEND AN EMAIL