GERMAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



his claims, that in tlie inilance of his St. Anthony he has 

 adopted a fubjccl that in itsnatuie fct !iim free, or nearly fo, 

 from the Gothic bondage witli which, on other occalions, 

 his genius was (liackled : he has been the firil boldly to 

 venture into the regions of Chimera, and by the potency 

 of his art has compelled thence the dxmons that Cailot and 

 Teniers were aftcru-avd lolicitous to invoke and proud to 

 employ ; wlulethe expreflion of uiidifturbcd faith and pious 

 refignation is the countenance of the holy man wliom they 

 are hurrying into the air, fhewa that he faw and copied that 

 portion of Nature which flie did vouchfafc to unveil to him, 

 with a clear vilion, and delicate, though determined, hand. If 

 his ditmons are more fantaftic and lefs terrible than modern 

 art would deem it proper to introduce, we fliould recollect 

 that the age of Schoen was that of Ariofto, and that two 

 centuries elapfed between the grotefque mongers of Ariofto, 

 and the fublime djsmonology of Milton. 



It is confonant to the progrcfiive improvement of critical 

 obfcrvation, that more lliould be known of the human counte- 

 nance at an early period, (or indeed at any period,) than of 

 the rcll of thefigure,becaufeit is the kind of ftudy and obferva- 

 tion in which men are moft interefted. Accordingly, Schoen's 

 heads are in general by far the beil parts of his performances. 

 Thofe of his iingle figures of St. Martin and St. John 

 have conliderable merit ; the divine character and expreffion 

 of that of his Chrill bearing his crofs, as it appears in the 

 good impreffions, have rarely been furpafTed ; and feveral 

 other heads in this extenfive compofition poflefs a propor- 

 tional fliare of excellence. 



In this, as well as in feveral other of Schoen's prints, may 

 be traced a latent feeling exiiling in the mind of their 

 author, that tlic engraver's art might be rendered fubfervient 

 to the expreffion of the various textures of fubftances. Nay 

 more ; this elementary principle (Irongly diicovers itlelf in 

 . the manner in which he has treated the grain of the wooden 

 crofs ; in tlie various modes he has invented of defcribing the 

 different materials of drefs in which the figures are habited, 

 and in the fterihty of the ground ; perhaps the latter is as 

 much the refult of the neceflaiy operation of the unedu- 

 cated graver, as of lludy. Yet, is it in"iuchtu!l concord with 

 the barrennels ot the fcene, and tiie barbarifm of the fubject, 

 as to be not unworthy of favourable notice ; while the 

 whole together feems to fliew that a fentimcnt has fubfilled 

 from the very commencement of engraving, that it was 

 fufccptible of this particular merit, and which may there- 

 fore be fairly prefumed to be not founded in the fallacious 

 reiinements of modern fathion, (though perhaps fometimes 

 run after with too much of fafhionable avidity,) but one of 

 the primary elements of the art. 



The mark which Martin Schoen affixed to his works may 

 .be feen in our firft plate of the monograms, &c. of the German 

 fchoolof engravers. Heinneken has enumerated an hundred 

 and fiftv of his engravings, moft of which are much and de- 

 fervedly fought alter by connoifleurs. We ftiall begin our 

 felett lift with the mention of thofe of which the fubjetts 

 are taken from facred hiftory. 



A Nativitv, where the Virgin Mary is in thea&of ador- 

 ing the infant Saviour, who is lying on a ftraw pallet ; behind 

 the Virgin appears a bull and an afs ; and in the diftance 

 St. Jofeph. Three angels appear m the air, holding a 

 fcrolL . - 



Another Nativity, where Jofeph is feen in profile, holding 

 8 lantern. The bull and afs are here lookitig at the infant 

 Chrift ; the fcene m a vaulted ftable, where, tlu-ough an 

 opening, are feen three fliepherds in convcrfation, and three 

 angels hymning hallelujahs above. 



Oa the fame plute of copper, vrhick is ftiU kept as a cu- 



tiofity, and may be feen in the chapel of die hofpital at Col- 

 mar, is likewife engraven " The Adoration of the'eaftern 

 Kings." The fcene here is alfo in a ftable, where the kings 

 are kneeling and offering prefents to the infant Saviour, who 

 is held by the Virgin Mary. This plate is very fkilfully exe- 

 cuted, and is of a Imall folio fize. 



" The Flight into Egypt,'' in which angels are reprefent- 

 cd affifting St. Jofeph to gather dates, and lizards are in- 

 troduced with both local and allegorical propriety, one on 

 the ground, and two others climbing up a tree. This allu 

 is in fmall folio. 



A fet of ten plates of " The wife Virgins," and " The 

 foolifli V^irgins," fmall uprights. The former bear their 

 lighted lamps in their hands, and are crowned with garlands 

 of flowers ; the latter are trampling on their garlands, while 

 their lamps alfo are on the ground. 



A fet of twelve fmall quartos from the life of'Chi'ifl. 

 In the firft he is reprefented in prayer on the mount of Olives ; 

 in the fecond, arrefted by the government ; in the thii-d, be- 

 fore the high prieft ; in the fourth, foldiers are fcourging him ; 

 in the fifth, he is crowned with thorns ; in the fixth, Pila! 

 is wafhing his hands ; in the feventh, he is exhibited to th 

 multitude ; in the eighth, bearing the crofs ; the ninth is the 

 crucifixion ; the tenth the holy fepulchre ; the eleventh the 

 defcent into hell, and the twelfth the Refurreclion. 



A large folio of " Chrift bearing his Crofs," one of the 

 moft celebrated of the engravings of Schoen, and on whicli 

 we have commented above. 



A Crucifixion, alfo in folio, and which has been copied by 

 Ifrael von Mecheln. The Virgin Mary and St. Jolm are 

 in this print reprefented at the foot of the crofs, and angels 

 in great affliction ; "The laft Judgment;" a fet of twelve 

 middle-fized uprights, of which the fubjedls are taken front 

 the life of the Virgin ; " The Death of the Virgin," 

 ditto, which has alfo been copied by Von Mecheln and 

 other contemporary artifts, and is a compofition of confi- 

 derable merit, and one of the moft carefully finilhed en- 

 gravings of the mafter ; " St. Anthony hurried into the 

 Air by Daemons," a very capital work, of which we have 

 already fpoken, an upright folio, but not very large. A fet 

 of the apoftles, very fmall. 



Of mifcellaneous fulvjecfs, Schoen has engraved " The 

 Alchemifts fighting ; ' " A Biihop's Crozier,"' in foho, in , 

 the fpiral volute of which is the Virgin Mary with the infant 

 Chrift, and an angel playing on a hite ; an incenfe-cup 

 or cenfer with a chain, ditto. Twelve fmall plates of ' 

 goldfmiths' ornaments, confifting of avmorinl bearings 

 with their appropriate fupporters, &c. clofing with, au 

 efcutcheon, bearing the cypher of the artift hirvjfelf, fup- 

 ported by a female ; and " The Battle again ft the Saracen?," 

 in which St. James appears on the part of the ChriHians ; a 

 large folio plate, prefumed to have been the laft of Schijen's 

 engravings, from the circumftance of certain diftant figures 

 toward the left hand corner being left in an unfiuilhed 

 ftate. 



Bartholomew Schoen is faid, by profcfTor Chrift, to liave 

 been the brother of Martin, but of the dates of his birth 

 and death we find no account. His apparently very an- 

 cient engravings are known by his initials, having between 

 them a mark of feparation exaftly relembling that which fe- 

 parates the initials of Martin Schoen, which confirms the 

 probability of their having been brothers. 



The engravings of Biu-tlioloinew bear that fort of refem- 

 blance to thofe of Martin, that a bad copy does to a good 

 original, and in neatnefs and feehng are exceedingly defettive. 

 They are partly original, but the greater number are copies 

 from the very fuperior prints of his brother. 



His 



