Jackson's works are not praiseworthy diroughout in drawing, and also he was not 

 thorougUy able to apply the principles of chiaroscuro correcdy. . , . Yet we have 

 several valuable prints from Jackson. . . . 



And Chatto '' remarks : 



They are very unequal in point of merit; some of them appearing harsh and crude, 

 and others flat and spiritless, when compared with similar products by the old 

 Italian wood engravers. 



With this verdict W. J. Linton '^ disagrees, saying, ". . . Chatto underrates him. 

 I find his works very excellent and effective. The Finding of Moses (2 feet high 

 by 16 inches wide) and Virgin Climbing the Steps of the Temple (after Vero- 

 nese), and others, are admirable in every respect . . . ." Duplessis '° attacks the 

 Venetian set heatedly and at length, yet he devotes more space to expounding 

 Jackson's deficiencies than to discussing the work of any other woodcut artist, 

 even Diirer or da Carpi. 



On the evidence we have, the new conception Jackson brought to printmaking 

 was not fully understood until the 20th century. Pierre Gusman" in 1916 prob- 

 ably first noted the technical distinction between Jackson's work and earlier 

 chiaroscuros. 



He [Jackson] conceived his prints in a different way from the Italians, bring- 

 ing in new aspects in accenting values and planes, because he did not reproduce 

 drawings but interpreted paintings. The whites even show embossings in the paper 

 to make the light vibrate, and a specially cut block is sometimes impressed to help 

 in modeling the forms. Jackson, in short, very much the wood carver, combined 

 the resources of the cameo witli those of the chiaroscuro and produced curious 

 works of combined techniques, but without equaling his predecessors, who were 

 particularly remarkable for their simplicity of style and treatment. 



*' Chatto and Jackson, 1861, p. 455. 



** Linton, 1889, p. 214. The second print mentioned is after Titian, not Veronese. 



'" Duplessis, 1880, pp. 314-315. Duplessis, who was conservateur-adjoint in the Cabinet des Estampcs 

 of the Bibliotheque Nationale, no doubt based his judgment on the impressions in that collection. Cer- 

 tainly few of these were printed by either Jackson or Pasquali. 



"Gusman, 19 16, pp. 164, 165. 



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