GERMAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



d.itcJ 5513, and tlic imprefficns ^\IucIl were taken before 

 this date was iKlcribed, are much valued. " The Death's 

 Head," of which we liuve already given a particular defcrip- 

 tion, ill fmall folio, dated 1503. Anotlier heraldic fubjccl 

 of the fame dimerfions, difplayir.g a lion rampant on a 

 fhield, and a helmet fnrmounted by a cock, fpreading his 

 wings. " A large Horfe," behind which marches an armed 

 man with boot's, bearing a haibert, and another horfe of 

 more beautiful form, behind which marches another armed 

 man with a haibert, having a griffin on his helmet : 

 both in ^to., and dattd 1505. " A didievelled Sorcerefs, 

 mounted on a Ke-Goat, and Hying ih.rougli the Air, with a 

 DitlafF in her Right-Hand. " The Prodigal Son," a 

 finall upright folio, of which the impreilions, before the 

 date 1513 was added, are held in moll efteem. 



Under the article Etching we have afcribed the inven- 

 tioT> of this mode of art to Albert Durer. The carlieil 

 of his etchings, v.'hich bears a date, is called " The Rape of 

 IVoferpine,'' a folio print, dated 1516, and in two years 

 afterwards appeared his more celebrated etching of the 

 march of an army, which has been called " The Cannon," 

 from a large piece of ordnance forming the principal objeil 

 on the fore-gronnd : the fcene reprefented is the entrance 

 of a village, v. ills a bird's eye view over an extenfive country, 

 and three Turks are introduced near the fore-ground. 

 Bot'n thefe etchings are reported to have been performed on 

 plates of iron or ttcel ; and the latter, wl;ich is nov.' bccon-.e 

 rare, is among the largeil of the wori;s of Albert Durer. 



The principal of thofe works of our artift wliich are com- 

 monly fuppoied to have been engraven on wood, are as fel- 

 low : — The portraits, in folio, of Albert Durer, iafcribtd 

 " AlbreCt Durer connterfcyt in feinem alter des LVI." 

 without the engraver's cypher ; another v.ith his cypher ; 

 the emperor Maximilian I. ; a buft with numerous orna- 

 ments, infcribed " Imperator Cxfar Divus Maximilianus 

 Pius Felix Augulhis 15 19;" Ulrichus Varnbuler, a rare 

 print, with the ioUowing infcription on a (hield, " Albertus 

 Durer Noricus reddere que conatur 15:2.'' 



From the numerous hillorieal works which Durer per- 

 formed in this manner, «'e fcleft the following : A fet of 

 thirteen folio prints, including the frontifpicce, from the 

 life and pafTion of Jefus Chrill, infcribed " Paffio Domini, 

 &e.'' dated 1510, 1511. A fet of twer.tj -feven fmall 

 uprights, known by the name of the Smaller Falfion, atid 

 infcribed " Figurre Pafiionis Domini Noftri Jefu Chrilli 

 1519, 1520." An " Eece Homo,'' in folio, engraved in a 

 bold and broad ftyle, and with great freedom. " The Holy 

 Trinity, iurroundedby the Angelic Hoft," and dated 151 i. 

 Another " Ecce Homo,'' known by the title of " The Myf- 

 tery of the Mafs.'' A fet of fixtten folio pieces, incUifive 

 of the frontiipiece, of wliich the fubjects are taken from the 

 Apocalypfe, and the text printed on the revene of every 

 Ic^if. A fet of tn-enty-two fmall folio prints from the life of 

 the Virgin Mary, dated 1 509, 151 I : feventeen of this beau- 

 tiful fet of engravings were copied by Mare Antonio at 

 Venice, to all or which copies, except one, the Italian artilt 

 added the cypher of Albert Durer. •' The Holy Family," 

 of the folio dimenfions, where St. Anne holds the infant 

 Saviour, and tlie Virgin Mary is in the aft of adoration. 

 "The Rhinocei-o8,'' a rare print, in folio, with a Germau 

 infcription, dated 15 1 5. 



In clair-obfcure (or chiarofcuro) printed from a fuccef- 

 fion of blocks, the following are afcribed to Albert Durer : 

 " A Holy Family in a Landfcape :" two angels are crown- 

 ing the VirginMary, and on the fore-ground are three rabbits ; 

 in large folio. Two, of legendary ftories from the lives of 

 St. Auguftin and St. Chriflopbrr, in large folio, the htter of 



which is fcarce. A fort of apothco.^s of the emperor 

 Maximilian, where, acccmpanicd by the Virgin Mary and 

 numerous faints, he is ad<n-ing the Saviour. (Of this piece 

 liuber poiTeffed an impreffiouon villum very richly colc/ured. ) 

 A pair, which are icarce, of "A Fortrefs in a Hale of Siege," 

 generally called the Siege of Vienna, dated 1527. A fet 'of 

 fix ornamental defigns fortapciiry, of allrononiical fubjefts. 

 The whole number of engravings by Albert Durer, and after 

 his deligns, are ihited to amount to 1214: but Maricttc's 

 colleftion amounted to no more than 420, which were fold 

 at his death for 1830 livres. See the article Durer in the 

 Catalogue Raifonnee of the Brandes cabinet. 



The triumphs of the emi e.-or Maximilian, which, when 

 pafled togetlier, form two very large and long prints of the 

 trieze form, have been generally a'cribrd to Albert Durer, - 

 but the refearches of Mr. Douce of the Britifh Mufeum, and 

 Mr. Edwards of Pall-Mall, have determined that they arc 

 the performances of various other artills, though perhaps 

 executed under the general fiiperintendance of Albert Durer. 



Lucas Cranach, orKranach, was born at Cranach, in Weft- 

 phalia, in the year 1472 or 1474, and died at Weymar in 

 1553. He was educated a painter ; vet whether he lludied 

 under any oth.er mailer tlian his father has not been recorded. 

 He pafiod feveral years in the fervice of the ckclor of 

 Saxony as an artiil, dillingnidiing himfelf by his engravings 

 on copper and wood, and in that manner which is techni- 

 cally called chiaro-fiiiro. His fertility of invention far outran 

 his judgment : led away bv the livelinefs of his fancy and 

 talent fur compofition, he took fuch forms as were before 

 him, following the ftiff Gothic taile which prevailed in nisi- 

 country at the time, without attempting to improve it. His 

 manner of drawing is rather dry and tattelefs, than abfolute- 

 ly incorrcft, but his heads have a moderate portion both of 

 character and expreffion, though they are not maiked with' 

 preciilon or in a plcafmg ftyle : his hands and feet are very 

 defective, and a total ignorance of the art of diilributing 

 light and fliade confuies his effects. 



Cranach fometiraes marked his plates with the initial let- 

 ters of his name : and fometimes with the cyplier, but m.ore 

 frequently with the dragon holding a ring in his mouth, 

 which will be found in our hril plate of German marks and mo- 

 nograms. The dragon is tlie cri ft of the elector of Saxony, 

 to which, on foir.e occafions, Cranach added the eledtorol. 

 lliield. 



The following will probably be found among[t}ie beft of his 

 engravings, beginning with thofe which are executed on cop- 

 per: Portraits of Jean Frederic eleftor of Saxony, where an 

 angel appears on high with a crown of laurel, in large 410. 

 and very rare. The two eleftorsoi Saxonv, Frederic and, lean, 

 the former of whom is Iiold:iig a chaplet, in 410. dated 1510,- 

 and almoft fquare. Chriftianus H. king of Denmark and 

 Norway, furrounded by ornamental architefture, armorial 

 bearings, &c. in large4to. Profile of Martin Luther in the 

 habit of a monk of St. Auguftin, infcribed " Des Luters 

 gellalt," in 4to. and dated 1523. 



The chief of his hiftorical works are : "Adam and Eve- 

 after their Fall,'' (called by foixie the Penitence of St. Chry- 

 foftom) the fcene is a dcfart, where a naked woman and 

 child appear on the fore-ground, and in the back-ground a 

 man is crawling, a folio plite, dated 15C9, marked with the 

 cypher and little dragon of Cranach, and executed quite in 

 his Gothic manner. " The Temptation of our Kaviour in 

 the Defai-t," where the Chrift has fomewhat better preten-- 

 fions to merit, than generally belongs to the figures of Cra- 

 nach, but the tempter is as grptefque and entertaining a devil 

 as you would wi(h to fee: the print is in fmall folio, and. 

 m;irkcd L. C. W. the laft letter denoting ^Vittenbourg : it 



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