ing though it must be allowed it is greatly im- 
br ce) semblance, though greatly 
~ & ivanr 9 
- 
Pi i 
~ If we admit that Schoen’s preceptor, whoever he was, 
Phe aa the art ten years before gli ar scalp 
origin as far back as the year 1450, ten years the 
time fixed by Vasari for its Italian origin. - Ss 
Maso Fini. | On the authority of Vasari, the Italians ascribe the in- 
geerra. vention to Maso, or Thomaso Fini about the year 
1460 ; apelene uy a pan praercailise by £92 
‘ it is very possible, art of engraving might have 
been a Beetietieilinks missor the iolista tors 
Fini a has ever 
of. Paris, and others, 
_ work iths, there may be some produc- 
tions of this artist. There likewise remain two small 
pieces of this sort marked witha , consisting 
of the letters M. F. somewhat similar to one of those 
used by Mare Antonio Raimondi, but the execution of 
the plate is in a very different style. This has been by 
-some presumed to signify Maso Finiguerra; but it must 
be considered only as iy vpubr b whut 
Sweynheym _ It is Sepckahie: that the first book printed at Rome, 
and Buck- “which also contained the first vings executed there, 
~ (which were only maps,) was -by Sweynheym, 
and on his death finished by Buckink, both Germans, as 
the dedication to Pope Sextus IV. indicates: Magister 
Conradus , Germanus, a quo forma 
‘Rome librorum ars primum profecta est, mathemati- 
eis adhibilis viris, quemadmodum tabulis denis «mprime- 
rentur edocuit ;” and that on his death, “ Arnoldus Buc- 
ink, e Germania —— ad perfectum opus succedens 
\perfecit.” This work is 1478, but it appears that it 
had been begun as early as 1472. The plates are exe- 
‘cuted with great labour, and the letters.are struck with 
‘punches by the blows of a hammer. From this it ap- 
‘ “a if era did invent the art of engraving 
inl it was kept a profound secret for eighteen years 
afterwards. bn ‘ 
Baecio Bal- The next book that appeared in Italy with plates, was 
aii a ms Kod Dante’s Inferno, published at. Florence b 
Ni Lorenzo pea eerie = 1481, embellished wi 
thirteen vings accio Baldini, from the desi 
of Aliciniiva Betedli. Fac similes of two of thes 
~ will be found in M. Heineken’s work ; and although the 
design of the figures is more pure and simple than that 
of their German cotemporaries, and the draperies cast 
with tolerable ease, yet the style of execution is puerile 
and awkward, without any of the delicate finishing 
pwr ge - works of the Germans even of 
t early period, and is another strong presumption of 
jk ota of the claims of the latter to the tovention of 
In tracing the history of the art, we cannot withhold 
fat the Pe pig ae, nee fowineh they seem 
entitled. We i in with the 
x wer au accordingly begin wi : 
@crman —__ Of Martin Schoen, and his predecessors, we have al- 
ready made mention. ~The.works of his brother Bartho- 
lomew, bear a strong resemblance to those of Martin, 
but without his neatness or After them 
came Israel van Mecheln, Playdenwurh, Wolgemuth, 
and Mair, the inventor of chiar’ engraving. 
- But Albert Durer was. the first that attempted to re- 
.not. discover in his plates 
rous style that was then | 
out grace ; an 
in hi _the, boldness and freedom 
which are desirable in large historical works, they at 
least display every thing requisite for subjects more mi- 
nute and finished. Although the art of ving has 
since had the advantage of the, experience of three cen- 
turies, it would be difficult to find a more perfect speci- 
men of executive excellence than his print of St Jerome, 
engraved in the year, 1514. He is supposed to have been 
the inventor of the art of etching: his works executed 
in that way.are the earliest extant ; they are not equal 
to his engravings, but his wood cuts are free and _mas~ 
terly. Although he was acquainted with the anatom: 
of the human. figure, and designed it occasionally with 
correctness, his contours are neither graceful nor plea- 
sing; and his figures and drapery are never entirely di- 
vested of the formal Gothic taste prevalent at that. time. 
His plates are numerous, and much esteemed. 
t we have said of the style of Albert Durer, ap- 
pet in general to-his pupil Aldegrever, Hans Sebald 
, and his brother Bartholomew, Aldtorfer, Binck, 
Goerting, George Penz, and Virgilius Solis, who, from 
the small size of the greater number of their plates, are 
generally distinguished by the name of the “little mas- 
ters,” al they have likewise executed large ones. 
Hans-Holbein, a native of Augsbourg, or, according to 
some, of Basle, an eminent painter, executed several en- 
gravings on wood... The most. remarkable, are those 
called,“ the Dance of Death,” pmayargn, Bid fifty-three 
small prints, the first publication of which took place 
-about the year 1530. 
The German school long continued to produce engra- 
,yings both on copper and wood, principally illustrations 
of books ; bat an Been data i < not seem to 
have any artists, whose works deserve parti- 
cular consideration, and as the characteristics which 
distinguished it begin to disappear. from the artists go- 
ing to Rome for the sake of improvement, we shall not 
prosecute the subject further, but proceed. to the Italian 
school, from whence every thing is great and ex- 
cellent in modern art has emanated. _Generally speak- 
ing, they drew correctly, but,they seem to have been 
more anxious for,emolument than fame, if, we may 
judge from the prodigious number of Bible cuts, and 
religious subjects, executed by them, which. have all the 
appearance of haying been done. with great rapidity. 
After Boticelli and Baldini, already mentioned, An- 
drea Mantegna,,.and. Antonio Pollajuoli, practised the 
art. Mantegna,-by his superior knowl of design, 
contributed more to its perfection than all his cotempo- 
raries in the style of his engraving. He has a great re- 
semblance to Pollajuoli; but in the drawing. of his fi- 
gues he-greatly surpasses, him, particularly in the na- 
ed, Their plates are generally executed with single 
strokes, in a diagonal. direction, without hatching or 
cross lines; in the manner of drawings.done with a pen. 
Giovanni Maria di. Brescia, and others, followed the 
manner of Mantegna, without however making any im« 
provementintheart. But Beccafiumi, without much neat- 
nessof handling, produced seyeral works,both etched, and 
with the graver only, whichdisplay the talents ofa great 
master. We have likewise by: him, as well as by. An- 
drea Andreani, many prints in chiar’ oscuro, a branch 
of the art. which they carried to greater perfection than 
it had reached before, them. ‘The drawing ia correct, 
and the execution negt and spirited, 
45 
Ttalian 
