Post #4 Research Project: Raphael and Marcantonio Raimondi: Raphael interest in Printmaking and Printmaking Techniques

Raphael and Marcantonio Raimondi: Raphael interest in Printmaking and Printmaking Techniques

 

Marcantonio Raimondi and Raphael Lucretia, Engraving 1510

Marcantonio Raimondi after Raphael, Dido, Engraving

School of Raphael, Lucretia-Dido, Pen and brown ink over black chalk

      It is believed that the collaboration between Marcantonio Raimondi and Raphael came about with Marcantonio's Lucretia engraving. This engraving was actually based on a drawing by Raphael, Marcantonio copied it without Raphael's knowledge and it was so skillful that it was presented to Raphael by a third party. Raphael recognized Marcantonio's gift and a collaboration was born. (Pon, 97)

     Lisa Pon argues that Raphael was much more influenced and interested in printmaking than any of his other contemporaries:

                     “Leonardo da Vinci may have been interested in printing presses, but he made no prints. 

                     Michelangelo after the half-century mark, would become quite interested in printed 

                     texts, but he never showed the type of enthusiasm that Raphael did for printed pictures” 

                     (102).

Raphael saw the print as a way to advance his career. Most would not be permitted to see his frescoes in the Papal Apartment, and prints could be widely distributed. “This explanation – print as publicity – has some truth to it: there can be no doubt that Raphael's images spread more widely and quickly in print than they ever could have in the media of painting or drawing alone” (Pon, 102-103). It is hypothesized that Raphael had access to a printing press, and used it in his daily practice, though not as an engraver.

Raphael Study for Receive Ye the Holy Ghost, Counter proof of a drawing in blind stylus and red chalk. 1515

      The technique of “counter-proofing” “involves laying a moistened blank sheet of paper on top of the drawing and applying pressure. The resulting image is reversed, and an explanation given is that Raphael wanted to see the composition in reverse, as it would appear in the final tapestry” (Pon, 111). Counterproofs could be achieved by hand or with a printing press.“The evenness and exactness of Study for Receive Ye the Holy Ghost suggests that it was made using a printing press. Thus it can be seen as a visual document of Raphael's interaction with someone using a printing press around 1515” (Pon, 112). However, other scholars suggest that this technique of counter-proofing was actually used to set the red chalk on the original drawing, much like fixative spray does today.

Raphael, Study for Venus, Metalpoint on pink prepared paper which is cut and adhered to another piece of paper

Marcantonio Raimondi and Raphael, Venus and Cupid in a Niche, (before Raphael's correction, as seen in the stance of the feet) Engraving

Bibliography:

Pon, Lisa. Raphael, Durer, and Marcantonio Raimondi: Copying and the Renaissance Print. China: 

     Yale University Press, 2004. Print