Raphael,
Dürer, and Marcantonio Raimondo: Copying and the Renaissance Print
Printmaking
is a medium, that inherently, is mass producible. Artist's use matrices, or plates, such as wood or metal that are inked up and then
offset onto paper. This offset can be done by hand or with a press.
In the beginning printmaking was a tool to bring images to a wider
audience; whether in “illustrating books and pamphlets or as
independent images” (Hartt, 36). The invention of the Gutenberg
press was soon found in many major Italian cities: Rome in 1467,
Venice in 1469, Florence by 1471, and over seventy other cities by
the end of the 1400's (Hartt, 36). The widespread use of the press
throughout Italy in the Renaissance created many business
opportunities for copyists or printmakers.
Prints,
since their creation, have always been more reasonably priced than
paintings or sculptures due to their ability to create more than one
of the same image. In the fifteenth century prints were “created
for the middle and lower classes” (Hartt, 220). Many of these
prints were reproductions/copies of other artist's works, not the
printmaker's original designs or concepts. Most professional artists
of the quarttrocento believed these masters of reproductions to be
just artisans (Hartt, 220). The “earliest reproductive print made
after a Renaissance painting” is attributed to Giovanni Pietro da
Birago with his engraving “Last Supper, after Leonardo da
Vinci” 1500 (Hartt, 462).
Giovanni Pietro da
Birago “Last Supper, after Leonardo da
Vinci” 1500
Leonardo da Vinci "The Last Supper"1495–1498
This
print was done soon after the completion of the painting, and because
of it art historians can study the original arrangement of the feet
(which are now lost) (Hartt. 462). Print reproductions enhance and
answer questions of the past, as well as give us insight into the
collaboration between printmaker and artist.
I will
be focusing on the Italian printmaker or engraver Marcantonio
Raimondi (1480-1534) and his relationships with famous German
printmaker Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and famous High Renaissance
Italian painter Raphael (1483-1520). Topics will cover the importance of
copyists and their influence on the art of the day, the relationship
between designer and printmaker, and the issue of copyright or
intellectual property.
Albrecht Dürer
Marcantonio
Raimondi
Raphael
Bibliography:
Hartt, Fredrick and David
G. Wilkins. The History of Italian Renaissance Art. Upper
Saddle River:
Pearson Education, 2011. Print.
Lincoln, Evelyn. The
Invention of the Italian Renaissance Printmaker. Singapore:
Yale University
Press, 2000. Print.
Pon,
Lisa. Raphael, Durer, and Marcantonio Raimondi: Copying and
the Renaissance Print. China:
Yale University Press, 2004. Print
This is a good way to introduce your Raphaelesque study with a useful discussion of printmaking in Italy. As for the Leo copy, I have seen many cats on the floors of later "Last Suppers" but did not realize there was already one in Leo's. When you refer to a "collaboration" of Leo and the printmaker, do we know that is the case, or was the print done independently?
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes our text "History of Italian Renaissance Art" does acknowledge Birago's addition of the cat or dog in the composition, although it is not explained why he did it. Birago also adds more landscape features out of the windows. I guess I should have mentioned this in the blog post.
DeleteIn this case, there was no certain collaboration between Birago and Leonardo. I am not sure who would have commissioned Birago to do the engraving after Leonardo's "The Last Supper". I do know that because of the circulation of this print, the fame of Leonardo's composition was more widespread and known than it would have been.
I refer to collaboration as a foreshadow to the work that Raphael and Marcantonio will do together.
Interesting that these prints become a blueprint for great works of art and their original compositions.
ReplyDelete