ITALIAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



are etchings and others engravings on wood, executed in a 

 bold ftyle, but very flight, and incorreft in his drawing of 

 the naked. He died at Venice in the year 1550, but lies 

 interred in the church of St. Anthony of Padua, near the 

 tombs of his anceltors. 



Of his etchings the following are the principal : — " The 

 Adoration of the Magi and Kings," a grand compofition, 

 in folio ; " Csefar's Tribute Money ;'' " Our Saviour heal- 

 ing tile Sick;" " The Parable of Dives and Lazarus," in 

 large folio, etched on three plates, and marked " D.C. In 

 Luca Bertelh," &c.; " The Gift of Languages, or Defcent 



of the Holy Ghoft," alarge circle, infcribed "-^Yv '^''5'" 



" Tlie Holy Family, with St. Jerome and St. John," after 

 Titian, a large folio, dated 1517. Two circular prints, 

 one of which is " The Decollation of a Female Martyr ;" 

 " A Group of Warriors, attended by Fortune, flopping the 

 Progrefs of the Arts and Sciences." A landfcape, wi.h 

 Jupiter and Cahilo, after Titian. Another landfcape, on 

 the fore-ground of which is a chariot drawn by two bulls ; 

 marked D. C. ; a bacchanalian fubjeft ; a Venus, infcribed 

 " D.O. Camp. 1517." 



The mofl; efteemed of his letter prefs engravings are 

 " The Holy Family," in a landfcape, v^'ith St. John and 

 other faints. The Virgin Mother is rcprefented fuckling 

 the Infant Chrift ; a folio print. A grand landfcape, in 

 which is introduced St. Jerome. Another large landfcape, 

 with a foldier and his family. Three children near a jjedef- 

 tal, one of whcm is contemplating a dog gnawing a bono. 

 " The Matracre of the Innocents ;" and "The Deilruaion 

 of Pharaoli and his Hoft," a large and grand work engraved 

 on twelve blocks after Titian, and marked " Dotnenico 

 del Greeche I5'49." 



According to the teftimony of the author of the .^bece- 

 dario, Julio Campagnola, furnamed Antenoreus, was tlie 

 brotlier of Domenico ; Florent le Comte fays, that he floa- 

 rilhed, as an engraver, from I5'07 to 1517. He worked 

 entirely with the graver, but in two very different llyles, 

 one of which was his own invention. 



The only two prints by Julio, with which we are ac- 

 quainted, exemplify this remarkable variation in his ftyle. 

 The iirft is a fmall upright (if " The Rape of Ganymede ;" 

 the execution of which refembles, in the manual, that of 

 Man- Antonio, though the drawing is very inferior. It is 

 infcribed " Juho Campagnola Antenoreus fee. ;" the other 

 is fomewhat larger, and reprefents St. John ftandirg, hold- 

 ing a cup and looking upwards. In this plate he has 

 entirely departed from his former manner. The back 

 ground is executed with round dots, made apparently with 

 a dry point. The figure is outlined with a ftroke deeply 

 engraven, and finilhed v>ith dots, in a manner fomewhat re- 

 fembling thofe prints which Demartcau engraved at Paris, 

 in imitation of red chalk. The hair and beard are expreffed 

 by ilrokes. It is a very extraordinary print, and proves the 

 antiquity of that mode of engraving, which has been erro- 

 reoufly confidered as a modern invention ; but its merit con- 

 fiOs chiefly in its fingu'arity ; for the drawing of the figure 

 is (hfi' and incorreit, and there is nothing' in the general 

 effect to recommend it. 



About the time now under our confideraiion, there alfo 

 arofe in Europe another new mode of engraving, which fuc- 

 cefsfuliy imitated drawings waTncd with biftre, or thofe 

 ancient Greek piftmcs v.liicii were called monochroms by 

 tlie ancients. Mr. Landfeer lays, that "the title of engrav- 

 ing in ch'tarofcuro, was at that lime exclufively, and there- 

 fore improperly applied to this new mode of art,'' fince 



chiarofcuro, or effeft of light and (hade, in a neceflary and 

 elementary part of every mode of engraving that goes be- 

 yond a mere outline. 



The invention of prints in ch'tarofcuro is claimed both by 

 the Germans and Italians. The latter affert that foon after 

 the commencement of the fixteenth century, Ugo da Carpi, 

 a man of great ingenuity, difcovered a mode of imitating 

 flight drawings bv the means of different blocks of wood. 

 The Germans, on the other hand, produce feveral engrav- 

 ings by Mair, which are dated 1499, and one by Lucas 

 Cranach, dated 1500, which are prior to the time affixed 

 by the Italians for the invention by Da Carpi. This cir- 

 cumftance, even if we (hould fappofe that the prints by 

 Mair are the firft attempts in this ftyle of engraving, is 

 fullicient to prove the priority of the exercife of it in Ger- 

 many. Baron Heinnekin is of opinion that the chiarofcuros 

 of John Ulric are ftill more ancient than thofe by Mair. 



There is, however, a material diftcrence between the 

 chiarofcuros of the old German mafters, and thofe of the 

 Italians. Mair and Cranach engraved the outhnes and deep 

 fiiadows upon the copper. The impreflion taken in this 

 ftate was tinted over by the means of a iingle block of wood, 

 with thofe parts hollowed out which were defigned to be 

 left quite white upon the print. On the contrary, the mode 

 of engraving adopted by Ugo da Carpi, was to cut the out- 

 lines on one block of wood ; the dark fhadows upon a fecond ; 

 and tlie light fliadows, or half tint, upon a third. The firfl: 

 being imprefied upon the paper, the outlines only appeared ; 

 this block being taken away, the fecond was put in its place, 

 their ccfincidcnce being fecurcd by a mechanical contrivance, 

 and being alfo imprefled upon the paper, the dark fliadows 

 were added to the outlines, and the third block being put 

 in the fame place, upon the removal of the fecond, and alfo 

 imprefled upon the fame paper, m.ade the demi-tints, and the 

 print was completed. In lome few inftances, the number of 

 blocks were increafed, but the operation was ftill the fame, 

 the print received an impreflion from every block. 



Da Carpi, who firll praftifed this mode of art in Italy, 

 was born at Rome in the year i486. He ftudied painting 

 with his great contemporary Raphael, but appears to have 

 poflfeffed one of thofe minds which, in all ages, bear hard 

 upon reftitude, by preferring novelty to eftabhihed principle. 

 He painted an altar piece for the church of St. Regard, in 

 the execution of which he ufed no pencil, but laid on the 

 colours immediately with his fingers ; Michael Angelo being 

 importuned for his opinion of this work, fimply replied that 

 " it would have been better had he ufed his pencils." 



It is probable that his paflion for novelty led him to 

 praftife that new mode of engraving on wood, which is now 

 under our notice, which alfo calling into aftion liis acquired 

 talents as an artift, enabled him to produce thofe niafterly 

 and fpirited imitations of the (ketches of the great painters^ 

 from whofe works they are taken, which he fometimes 

 printed in green, fometimes in brown, and fometimes in other 

 colours, as his love of novelty and experiment directed. 



Of thefe works, thofe which are moft fought after by the 

 curious, are as follow : — " A Sybil with Tablets and a 

 Stylus, with an Infant Genius holding a Torch," after 

 Raphael, printed in green, and, according to Vafari, the 

 firft work of the kind produced by Da Carpi. " Eneas 

 efcaping from Troy with his Father Anchifes," a large up- 

 right, from the fame mailer. " The Defcent from the 

 Crofs," an upright folio; "David beheading Goliah ;" 

 " The Slaughter of the Innocents ;" " Jefus preaching in 

 the Temple;" " Elymas ftricken with Bhndnefs ;" "The 

 Death of Ananias ;" " St. John in the Defart ;" " A Dead 

 Chrift on the Knees of his Mother;" and "Raphael con- 



verfiiior 



