ITALIAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



pafling tlip Elbe," from a compofition of liis own, a large 

 upright plate, in an oval ; " The Battle of the Amazons," 

 the fame, inforibed " Bcllum Amazonum," dated 1,4^; 

 " Vulcan working at his Forge, with Venus on a Bed behind 

 him." In the fu-ft imprefiions of this plate, Mars was re- 

 prefented with Venus, from Parmcgiano, " Tlic Combat of 

 the Centaurs and Lapitha>," after Roffo, in large folio, 

 dated 1542 ; "The Difpute of Cupid and Apollo in tlie 

 Prefence of the Cods," from Baccio Bandinelli ; " The 

 School of Baccio Bandinelli," with his port-rait, after Par- 

 niegiimo ; " The Converlion of St. Paul," after F. Salviati, 

 all in folio ; " St. George and the Dragon," from Julio 

 CarrAtini'.s, a very rare print, in folio ; " Judith with the 

 Head of Holofcrnes," after Michael Angclo's celebrated 

 piclnre in the Silline chape!, in folio; "Jupiter and Leda." 

 and a large folio print of a bacchanalian fubjcft, both from 

 the fame mailer, marked Euea Vico, 1546. (This fubject 

 has been alio engravc-.i by Beatrizet.) " Chrift taken from 

 the Sepnlchrc," after Raphael, in folio. Another dead 

 Chrift, fupportcdby Jofeph of Arimathea, with the Virgin 

 and otlier females bewailing him, a middling-li/ed upright 

 plate, from Raphael ; " Lucretia ftabbing herfelf," with a 

 Greek infcription ; " Venus and CupiiT," (this has alio 

 been engraved by Marc Antonio) ; " The Annunciation of 

 the Virgin," a fmall plate from Titian. A fet of vafes 

 from the defigns of Polidoro da Caravaggio. A fet of fi.''ty 

 plates, of drelfes of different nations. And one of the Tr.:- 

 jan column. 



Martin Rota was a native of Sebinigo in Dalmatia, he 

 ftndied at Rome, where he palTed his youth, but afterwards 

 removed to Venice, and remained there till towards the clofe 

 of the fixteenth century. Huber fays he was born in 1561, 

 but this mull be a miilake, fince his print of " Jefus Cluilt 

 meeting St. Peter," after Raphael, is dated in 1 j68. It 

 is uncertain by what mailer he was inftrufted in tlie art of 

 engraving ; but his works prove him to have been a man of 

 great abilitie.-. He drew the human figure very correctly, 

 and marked the extremities in a very maflerly (h le. 



Rota worked entirely with the graver, which he managed 

 with great delicacy, and without drynefs, though his plates 

 are not very highly liniflied. Among his works is a fet of 

 portraits of the Roman emperors from Julius Cacfar to the 

 emperor Alexander Scverus, which he pubhflied at Venice 

 in I J70. He commonly marked his prints with his name, 

 and I'ometimes with the fmall wheel wliich will be found in 

 our Plate II. of monograms, &c. of the Italian Engravers, 

 and which conllitntcd a fort of pun upon his family name. 

 His principal works areas follows. — " The Laft Judgment," 

 a middhng-fized upright plate, dated 1569, from Michael 

 Angelo Buonarotti. This excellent engraving, which is 

 juftiy conf dered as the chef d'ccuvre of Martin Rota, has 

 been copied very exactly bv Leonard Gaukier ; the dif- 

 ference, however, is oafily difcovered by comparifon, the 

 copy being much inferior to the origuial ; that is, fuppoling 

 the original to he a good impreflion. But a more (hiking 

 diflinclion is to be ieen in the face of the portrait of Michael 

 Angelo, which is introduced in a fmall oval at the top ; it is 

 turned towards his right Ihoulder in the original, and towards 

 his left llioulder in the copy. " The Relurreftion," from 

 his own defign, dated 1577, executed in a very delicate 

 flyle. Another " RefurreAion" executed in a very coarfe 

 fty'e ; " The Slaughter of the Innocents," from his own 

 defign, in fmall folio ; " Paying Tribute to Ca:far," three 

 figures, fcen as low as the knees, in folio ; " The Mar- 

 tyrdom of St. Peter the Dominican," a middling-fized up- 

 right plate from Titian. A " Mary Magdalen," after the 

 fame mailer, in 410 ; " Prometlicu* chained to a Rock,' after 



the fame ; " The Satyr Marfias fla)-ed by Apollo ;" " Our 

 Saviour appearing to St. Peter at the Gates of Rome." 

 after Raphael, in folio ; " A Laft Judgment," from hia 

 own delign, a very fine plate, dedicated to the emperor Ro- 

 delplms'll. dated 157^:;, in folio. Another " Lall Judg- 

 ment," alfo from his own deiign, which remained unfiniflied 

 at his death, but was com])leated under the care of Anfelm 

 Boodt. It is dillinguiflied from the former one, by two fe- 

 male figures in the middle of the piclure, inllead of an angel ; 

 this latter is the mod rare, but the former is the fined en- 

 graving. " The Battle of Lepanto, and Defeat of the 

 Turkilh Fleetj" from his own defign, dated 1572, in large 

 folio, a very rare print, as are alio the good impreffions of 

 all the plates of this mailer. 



Jerome Porro was born at Padua in the year 1 J20. He 

 is not mentioned by Strutt, and very little is known of the 

 events of his life, except tiiat he refided for fome years in the 

 Venetian territory. He appears to have been a man of a 

 mechanical turn of mind, and more remarkable for patient 

 indufiry, than for fugh talent as properly conftitutcs an artill. 

 Huber fays, he invented and condrudled a fort of faihng 

 car, large enough to contain thirty perfons, and there is 

 yet prefcrved at Parma an engraved curiufity from his hand, 

 of which it is dilTicuIt to fay, whether it exhibits more pa- 

 tience or want of talle. The fubjcct of this print is " Tiie 

 Pafllon of Chrill," and the hatchuigs, which conttitute the 

 fliading, are found, on near infpeftion with a magnifying 

 glafs, to confilt of very delicate writing. Hence the chiaro- 

 fcuro is not effective, and the writing is not legible. 



Among his other works, are a fet of plates for an edition 

 of the Orlando Furiofo, which was printed at Venice in the 

 year 1 ,-48, and is now become very rare. A fet of an hun- 

 dred vignettes for " Les Impreffi degli Uomini illullri de Ca- 

 millo Car.iilli ;" and a fet of letter-prel's engravings, neatly- 

 executed for a book, of the funeral ceremonies ot the an- 

 cients, by Thomas Portacci, printed at Venice in 1591 ; 

 this was the lall, and perhaps the bell, work of Jerome 

 Porro. 



About the fame time lived Antonio Fantuzzi, or Fon- 

 tnzzi, an obfcure Italian engraver, who elched a confiderablc 

 number of plates in a coarl'e liyle, refenibliug that of Tem- 

 pella. He lludied under Primaticcio, ar.d marked his prints 

 either with his initials, or the cypher which will be found in 

 our Plate 11. of the monograms, &c. of the Italian En- 

 gravers. Though his prints poffefs not much merit, rarity 

 has conferred on them an imaginary value, and they are 

 fought after by the curious, particularly a bacchanalian fiib- 

 ieCt, where Silenus is followed by a nujiiber of Satyrs, after 

 "Roffi, dated I J4.3 ; " The Contell between the Mufes and 

 Picrides," in large folio, after Primaticcio ; and, after the 

 fame mailer, " Alexander and Roxan?," and "Alexander 

 and Thalellris," dated 1^43. A large print from the 

 hillory of Pfyche, of Jupiter, Minerva, &c. in an oval ; 

 and "Titan rcpofing on the Surface of the Sea," in folio, after 

 Bologna. 



Now alfo lived Andrea Schiavone, furnamed MeldoUa, a 

 celebrated hillorical painter, who performed fome etchings 

 fomewl'.at in the taile of Parmcgiano, and a few prints in 

 chiarofcuro, among which are, " T!i-- Finding of Mofes,'* 

 in fmall folio, after Parmcgiano ; " The Flight into Egypt," 

 in 4to.; and " A Holy Family," in folio, after Parme- 

 giano, in all of which the hatchings appear as if of white 

 chalk on » blue ground ; in the " Refurredlion of Lazarus," 

 the hatchings are of gold colour on a blue ground, and the 

 fame in " Chrift laid in the Sepulchre," both of v\hieh are 

 after Parmcgiano ; " St. Peter and St. John," after the 

 cartoon of Raphael, is executed in the fame manner, as is 

 3 U 3 alio 



