MARCANTONIO RAIMONDI (1480-1534) AFTER RAPHAEL (1483-1520)

Alexander preserving the Works of Homer

Details

MARCANTONIO RAIMONDI (1480-1534) AFTER RAPHAEL (1483-1520)
Alexander preserving the Works of Homer
engraving, circa 1515-25, on laid paper, without watermark, a fine impression of this rare print, trimmed inside the platemark but retaining a fillet of blank paper outside the borderline, a short, backed tear at the upper sheet edge at left, the sheet toned and very thinly backed with a layer of paper fibres, otherwise in good condition
Sheet 260 x 398 mm.

Provenance

Sebald Hirschvogel (1517-1589), Nuremberg, 1564, according to a black ink inscription verso.
Sotheby's, London, 23 November 1971, lot 72.

Literature

Bartsch 207

Brought to you by

Tim Schmelcher

tschmelcher@christies.com +44 20 7389 2268

Lot Essay

Marcantonio's engraving is closely related to a preparatory drawing by Raphael for a grisaille fresco in the Stanza della Segnatura at the Vatican. The drawing is today at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Pll. 5.70).

Sebald Hirschvogel, the first recorded owner of this sheet, came from a dynasty of glass painters in Nuremberg, a profession he also practised. He was the grandson of Veit Hirschvogel the Elder (1461-1526) and the nephew of the etcher Augustin Hirschvogel (1503-1553). Artists and craftsmen, such as Hirschvogel, were amongst the earliest collectors of prints.

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