GERMAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



th" Hoad of .Tolin the Baptift." A pair of " Tlie Rape, 

 anH Death, of Liicretia," A pair of " King Porfenna 

 paflinc; the Tibet", and Horatius Codes finglv defending 

 ' the Bridge." Another pair from the Life of Virgil. 

 Another pnir, dated 1539, of " Ceplialus and Procris, and 

 Medea and .lafon." "The Death of Dido,'' and "Tlic Death 

 of Virginia." A fet of three, of " Mutius Sccvola thruft- 

 irig his Hand into the Fire;" " Marcus Curtiiis precipi- 

 tating:; hiir.felf into tlie fierr Gulf;'' and " The Punilhment 

 of Titus Manlius ;' in the latter of which the artift has 

 introduced vhe beheading machine, which is fince known in 

 France, the dreadful guillotine. A pair of " Sophonifba" and 

 " Artemiiia;'' " The Supplication of Reguhis;" "Tile Cen- 

 taur Chiron inllrufting Achilles;" "The Triumph of 

 Batchus," a frieze in tlie antique tafte. A fet of fix em- 

 hlrinatical triumphs of human nature, •viz. of Valour, 

 ChalHtv, Love, Time, Deatli, and Religion. A fet of 

 five of the fenfes perlonificd, with Latin infcriptions ; 

 another fet of the feven liberal arts ; and another of the 

 feven mortal fins. 



But lii.i principal and largeft work, of which we have 

 already fpoken, is -'The taking of Carthage bytlie Romans," 

 after Julio Romano. 



Among tliat clafs of tlie ancient en.graver.'i of the con- 

 tinent who are called the " Little Mailers," from the fmall 

 dimenfions of their works, Henry Aldegrever (lands in the 

 very firft rank. He was born at Zoull in Weftphalia, 

 A. D. 1502, but of his anceftors we find no account. Both 

 his baptilnial and family names have been miihiken, for, by 

 fume authors, he is called Aldergraft ; while otliere, perhaps, 

 millaking fome of the fmaller works of Albert Altdorfer 

 for his, fay that his ciiriilian name was Albert ; but pro- 

 feflor Chrill allures his readers that the name of this artill 

 was Henry, and not Albert ; and upon his own portrait 

 his firname is written, at full length, " Aldegrever.'' 



Nuremberg was at that time the head-quarters of Ger- 

 man art ; and thither young Aldegrever was feiit to ftuJy 

 under Albert Durer. He imitated the ftyle of his mafter 

 with great fuccefs, and gradually learned to blend with it a 

 certain fmall portion of the elegance and fimplicity which Italy 

 firft caught from the refurreClion of Grecian art; and Germany 

 from the engravings which were brought thither fi-om Italy. 



Aldegrever is a lofty objetl, which receives the firlt 

 faint ravs of a riling fun, and it is univerfally allowed bv his 

 critics, tliat had he refided in Italy, " the genius and ability 

 which difplayed iticlt io conlpicuoully in his own country, 

 would have flione with double luftre.'' 



The manual part of his engraving, executed entirely with 

 the graver, is extremely neat, and in a ftyle evidently 

 founded upon tliat of Durer. He is among the firft who 

 gave texture to the light parts of flelh by the admixture of 

 fmall long dots, which lias fince been carried to fuch ad- 

 mirable perfection bv Nauteuil and others. His drawing of 

 the naked, which he lecms fond ot introducing, is morecorreft 

 than is found among kis predeceifors of Germany, and his 

 nieJT more corrtCt than his women. His heads are, in 

 general, cxpreffive, and his other extremities well marked, 

 though occafioiially fomewhat heavy. 



. Tlie time of the deceafc of Aldegrever is not accurately 

 loiTOwn, but the latell of his prints is dated in the year 155S. 

 The Abbe Marolles had feen at leall three hundred and 

 fiftv diifercrtt prints from his graver, of which the following 

 lift contains the names of the principal ; butthegreat demand 

 for his works has occafioned his plates to be much worn, 

 and often re -touched ; and Strutt, with becoming iolicitudo 

 for his fame, advifei; the collector to be circumlpefl an t« tile 

 imprciiion.s he admits into hi.i port -folios. Hi."; monograms 

 maybe ieenin our-pkitca at lli«f« ol lUtfGeriuan Ichool. 



The" principal portrait* of AltkgrCver. iff tlibfc of hint- 

 felf without a beard, aged 28, and dated ijjo. v\iiolhcr 

 of himlelf, aged 35, in vviiich he appears with a long beard ; 

 Martin Liitlier, dated 1540; Philip Melanfthon, of ' the 

 fame date ; and Albert Vander Helle, aged 28, and dated 

 153^ ; all in quarto. 



His folio portraits are thofe of Williarti due de .Tuliu? ; 

 John of Leyden, king of tlie Anabaptifts, Snd Bernard 

 Knipperdolling, another fanatic. 



Of his hiftorical engravings, the mod celebrated are, 

 A fet of fix, from the Hiftory of Adam .Ind Eve, dated 

 1540. A fet of four, from the Hiftory of Lot, dated 

 1555. A fet of four, from the Hiftory of the patriarck 

 Jofeph, dated 1528 and 1532 ; all in i2mo. 



A fet of iix, from the Hiftory of Abfalom, dated i J'40, 

 A pair of " David and Bathdieba ;" and " The Judgment of 

 Solomon," in 8vo. A fet of four, of " The Hiftoi-y of Sufanna 

 and the Elders,'' dated i^^^. Another fet of four of " The 

 Good Samaritan." A fet of five, from " The Parable of the 

 Ricli Man," dated 1554. A fet of the " Four Evangclifts,"' 

 bearing the monograms of both Aldegrever and Peins. 

 " The Annunciation and Nativity," a pair, in 8vo. Two of 

 " The Madonna and Infant Jefits.'' Two fmall friezes of 

 " Battles between HeCfor and the Greek.s, and Scipio and 

 the Carthaginians." A fet of fijt, of <• The Deities who pre- 

 fide over the Planets." A fet of twelve, of " The Labours of 

 Hercules," each with a Latin diltich, dated 1550. A 

 ftt of fourteen allegorical figures, ending with the Saviour 

 viAorious, and infcribed " Pax noftra Ciiriftus." A fet 

 of the feven Cardinal Virtues. A fet of the feven worfl: 

 Vices. Another fet of feven, of '« The Ettipire of Death,'* 

 dated 1541. 



The only etching from the hand of Aldegrever is now 

 become very fcarce : its fubjeft is Orpheus and Euridice, 

 dated in 1528, and in 121110. 



James, or Jacob Binck, was alfo of Nuremberg, or, 

 according to fome authors, was born at Cologne, in the 

 year 1504, and died at Rome in 1560. His ftyle of 

 engraving greatly relcmbles that of Aldegrever, under 

 whom, or Albert Durer, he probably learned the rudiments 

 of his art, and iraproved himfclf afterward in the fchool of 

 Marc Antonio : yet his ftyle is not always the fame ; it 

 often pofTefles more feeming facility than that of Alde- 

 grever, and when, at the beft, more of Italian tafte. He 

 apparently ftudied alio, and iinitatcd, that of Marc de 

 Ravenna. 



His cypher, compofed of the initial! letters of his name, is 

 that of many other artifts who lived ribout the fame period ; but 

 he fometimes added a little bird, and at others ufed the 

 monogram, which will be found on our fecond plate. 



The chief works of Jacob Binck are, " A young Mas 

 drefted in a Bonnet, holding a Skull under his Cloak, and 

 a Cup in his Right-Hand." This, according to Sandrart, 

 is his own portrait ; but, though the face may pofTibly 

 refemble him, the reft of the compofition is copied from 

 an engraving of the fjime fize by Ifrael von Mechenin. 



The portraits of Francis I, Cln-iftianus II. furroundcd 

 by ornamental architefture ; a young princefs, datej 

 IJ26; Luke Gaflele, dated 1529; the archduch<Ti! 

 Elizabeth of Denmark ; a pair, of Martin Luther, in- 

 fcribed " In illentio Veftra," and Phihp Melani'thon, in- 

 fcrilied " Si Deus pro nobis qtiis contia' nos." 



His principal hiftorical engravings are, a fmall plate of 

 St. Jerome. " Marcus Curtius precipitating himfelf into 

 the Fiery Gulf," marked 15 I. B. 29. A pair, of the 

 frieyx' proportions, of " Infant Bacchanals gathering grapes,' 

 Src." and " The Triumph of Bacchus," wherein his car, 

 iii drawn by fatyrs, aud attendant nymplis' are playing "un 



Z i mulksl 



f 



