284 ENGRAVING 



cither not to have known, or did not caro to practise, tho process now adopted, of 

 'stopping out,' for the purpose of producing gradation of shade. The admirable 

 wood engravings by this artist are referred to in their proper place. 



The works of Van Loydon, tho Dutchman, are even more Gothic in taste and style 

 than those of Diirer, with whom he is said to have been intimately acquainted : they 

 exhibit the same amount or degree of stiff, angular drapery ; as much, perhaps oven 

 more, inattention to grace and dignity of form, without his fertile imagination, his 

 occasional vigour, and his truthful observation of individual nature. His execution is 

 neat and clearly defined, but his plates are deficient in firmness and harmonious effect, 

 and his lines are without variation in substance ; those that represent near objects, 

 and those that express objects at a distance, are equally fine and delicate ; hence the 

 monotony apparent in his prints. They are almost entirely sacred or legendary sub- 

 jects, from his own designs ; among the finest are ' The Temptation of St. Anthony,' 

 engraved in 1509, when he was only thirteen years of age, ' The Crucifixion,' and tho 

 * Adoration of the Magi. 



It would be beyond tho province of this notice to record tho progress of tho art, 

 througli the continental schools, till it took root in England ; yet a short history of its 

 introduction and growth on our soil may not be considered out of place. 



Until the middle of the last century, neither painting nor engraving had attained 

 any eminence in this country; the latter art, especially, was practised chiefly by 

 foreigners, as Hollar, Simon, Vaillant, Blooteling, &c. ; previously to whom wo had, 

 of our own countrymen, Faithorne, an admirable engraver of portraits, Payne, White, 

 and one or two others of inferior merit ; but, with the exception of Faithorne, none 

 whoso works are now held in much esteem. The encouragement afforded by George 

 III., almost as soon as he ascended the throne, to the fine arts generally, and the 

 establishment of the Koyal Academy, which offered to artists a position in the country 

 they had never before held, gave an impulse to every section or branch of art pro- 

 fessors. Hogarth's name had, however, become widely known many years before : 

 his numerous plates, all of them from his own designs, are to this day much sought 

 after, not so much, perhaps, for any especial excellence as examples of fine engrav- 

 ings, as for the talent and genius which the subjects display. ' Hogarth composed 

 comedies as much as Moliere,' was the remark of Walpole : he died just as art was 

 beginning to be recognised and patronised in England. Francis Vivares, a French- 

 man by birth, but long settled in England, where he studied the art under Chatelain, 

 carried landscape-engraving to a high point of excellence ; some of his prints after 

 pictures by Claude and Gaspar Poussin exhibit remarkable freedom in tho foliage of 

 tho trees, and truth in the texture of the various objects introduced in the landscape. 

 Woollett, born at Maidstone, in Kent, who died in 1785, and Sir Kobert Strange, a 

 native of one of the Orkney Islands, who died in 1792, advanced tho art still further ; 

 indeed, it is a question whether engraving has ever found more able exponents than 

 these two distinguished men : the latter engraved several portraits, which have rarely 

 been surpassed at any period in the history of art. The works of both these 

 engravers are characterised by bold and vigorous execution, produced by the com- 

 bined use of the etching-needle and the graver. Cotemporary with these, or their 

 immediate successors, were Browne, who sometimes worked with Woollett, Bartolozzi, 

 Hall, Kooker, Green, Kyland, Watts, Sharp, McArdell, Smith, Earlom, &c.; all aided, 

 by their proficiency, to uphold the honour of the art ; while John Landsecr, Baimbach, 

 Engleheart, Pye, and John Burnet, may bo regarded as the chief connecting links 

 between tho past generation and the present. 



Engraving on metal plates may be classed under the following heads : Etching, line, 

 mezzotinto, chalk, stipple, and aquatint. Before describing the processes of working 

 these respective kinds, a notice of the instruments used by the engraver is necessary. 

 These, with some modifications, are employed in all the styles. 



The etching-point, or needle, is a stout piece of steel-wire inserted into a handle; two 

 or three, varying in thickness, are requisite, and they should bo frequently and care- 

 fully sharpened. This is best done by turning the needle round in the fingers while 

 rubbing it on a hone, and afterwards on a leather strop prepared with putty powder, 

 or on an ordinary razor-strop, to take off any roughness, and to make it perfectly 

 round. 



The dry-point is a similar instrument, used for delicate lines : it must be sharpened 

 on the hone till a fine conical point is obtained. 



The graver, or burin, is tho principal instrument employed in engraving: several 

 are required, differing from each other in form, from the extreme lozenge shape 1<> the 

 tquare ; tho former being used for cutting fine linos, tho latter for broad : the pr.-m-r 

 fits into a handle about five inches and n half long, and it should bo well temp-ivi! 

 before using, an operation requiring great care. Tho angle at tho meeting of the two 

 Jower sides is called tho belly, and the breadth of the end, tho face. To sharpen tho 



