FRENCH SCHOOL 
-tray,’” after Nesta ha the rare of which is engra- 
ven by Baudouin, the es by Sco 
ss Spierre was fon at Nancy im the year 1643. 
He ftudied at Paris, in the {chool of F. de Poilly, and foon 
ani a fuperiority even over that able mater. 
rl 
aman of a philofophical turn of mind, great profeffional 
cate ad extraordinary talent in his art. diag aris 
he travelled to Italy, in queft of further 1 eee where 
he remained a confiderable time, and where his belt works 
i was taken 
at the early age of thirty- 
h, according to the French 
writers, he was thirty-eight, to the great regret of a who 
po gi ies the leaft tatte for the art of engraving. 
1d in great requeft among connoiffeurs, 
te are worthy of great raife. Strutt fays o of him 
truly, that he did not imitate the ftyle of his tutor, though 
ie worked entirely with the graver, which inftrument he 
handled with great facility. He gave more play to. the 
and produced an effe€t more foft and picturefque. 
ftrokes 
But t his ftyle was fo various upon different oe that we 
may add the fubftance of what Watelet has — him, 
without een the a chara@ter of 0 artift. 
nen he arrived a und Cornelius See 
eho ftyle he oceafionlly ee in the full vigour of his 
ridian of his reputation. But Bloemart 
1e 
Yet the prefent writer has feen prints from the graver of 
Spierre, or at leatt inferibed vee his name, that are by no 
means worthy of thefe encomiums. 
His abilities were not con ane dto engraving. He fom 
times painted hiftory and allegory in a ftyle which appear 
formed upon that of Pietro da Cortona, and fometim 
por traits. portrait of count Laurent de Marciano, 
which he ai ielae from a picture by himfelf, is remarkable 
for its harmonized variety of tints, though no part of the 
print be ocieae o the cee of blacknels which has often 
been deemed indifpenfable to a se aera aro-{curo. 
Confidering the {hort period of his life, his ania i are 
and. not many lives more completely 
n i ee our 
the fubjects of his ees, with thofe which he 
engraved, after the pictures of the celebrated Italian wae 
« The Virgin fuckling the Infant Saviour,”’ a circle, or 
fhort oval, after Correggio. The earlieft, and 
proofs of this admirable et Sige are taken befor 
was introduced to cover the of the aft a are 
alfo without certain {mall trees aces are feen e fubfe- 
quent impreffions to the left of the virgin ; and ‘het are fo 
valuable, that at the fale of M, Mariette, one of them brought 
five hundred livres 
« St. Michael encountering the Dragon,” (a frontifpiece 
o the Roman Miffal ; i this w ith ae four fo Howi ring are all in 
folio, and all after Pietro to » © The mira ae ae 
Conception,” engraved for the Miffal of pope Alexander 
Vii. t. Martin before the Virgin, and = ara Jefus, 
who holds ily in one Hand, a nd in the o a Palm.”’ 
“ The pee! of Alexander VILL ee to that 
o 
oo 
molt ne 
apery 
OF ENGRAVING. 
le g a Plan of — Athos, with his propofed Tmprove- 
“ Cyr s refufing to fee Panthea, (his Captive, )” 
ee : painting in ar the Pitti palace at Florence. 
r Ciro-Ferri, Spierre has engraven the four follow- 
ing fabjeéts, in folios « The- ‘Circumcifion,” for the Miffal 
of pope Alexander ee « Pallas in the Clouds, in a 
Chariot drawn by a Lion and a snes) iin Jt eat on 
And from the pictures of Bernini, “ oR “Sfadonna with her 
Hands croffed,’’ a circl « St. John preae 
the Defart.”’ The Miracle of the Loaves and Fithes.’’ 
«© Chrift on the Crofs, fufpended over a Sea of Blood,” 
which feems to have flowed from his own wounds; a fingular 
performance executed without any cr rofs hatchings, the 7 
Chain of St. Peter, 
painted from nature, or invented by Soar ha 
Innocent XI. Odefcalchi, eee Pontiff, in 4to. The 
Grand duke o Tufcany, eae in in fclic. 
Laurent count de Marfi ear in folio 
which we ae already fpok 
VII. bo rne high in the air by a va 
feena terin e gardens ‘ort 
aa tne dager ‘of Hefperus 
ars and Minerva 
vetting ov ae ture of Rofes,” with ak three 
nymphs are occupied. “ llegory on the Faculties of 
the foul,” in ae a difGnsuithed iece of our artift, and, 
which ferves to fhew his philofophical turn of m 
ean Louis Roullet was born at Arles, in Pos in the 
year 1643, and died at Paris in 1699. earned the 
firit dae of drawing a engraving from Jean L’enfant, 
and completed his ea the {chool of F de Poill 
hole manner of engraving ‘he adopted with great eer 
Quitting the fchool af de Poilly, he went to Italy, where 
he remained ten years, and where his merit recommended him 
to the favourable notice of Ciro-Ferri, and other celebrated 
e was alfo endeared by his amiable per- 
and drew the hum fini e corre 
high among the ageies of France. 
: ree aaa at - epulchre, after ee Carracci, which 
2 
“< 
. 
= 
fe] 
rt 
2 tae 
on 
ae) 
” 
oh 
2) 
bot 
0 
ve’ 
fs) 
ae 
ccording to Florent le Compte he engraved during his 
ae at Naples, is much ia i correctnefs of out- 
line, force of chiaro-feuro, bea of en 
rav an 
curacy with which i ne of the pate ne trans fated, 
The fub bjeéts of his one productions are as follow, begin- 
nin with the hiftorica 
iece e named “ St. Claire,” Here the infant Jefus is feen 
mother, aa his right hand on the 
need iy t. Jofeph, aiter aa oe 
(Several artifts a oe ‘ho om the fame pi 
« The Virgin holding the Infant Jefus, ee > hose i 
after the fame. Madonna, and Infant Jefus, who 
em after ma Lanfranc. wo of t 
angles of the dome of the church of the Jefuits at Naples, 
on whi Eevangelifte, t. Matt 
St. Mark and St 
raven by Fr. Lou 
ee a SS from Heaven,’ dedicated to the bifhop 
with his portrai t. Ciro Ferriiny, © Jupiter 
ee che Shield cf Perfeus to be forged,” dedicated ta 
re 
