22 



Processes and Schools of Engraving. 



the sulphur casts from nielli. The cast of the Coronation of the Virgin, 

 from the niello plate (formerly, but wrongly, attributed to Maso Fini- 

 guerra) preserved in the Bargello, Florence, is the most perfect of these 

 sulphurs in existence. In connexion with nielli, which were chiefly 

 produced in Italy between about 1450 and 1510, it may be mentioned 

 that there are two principal schools, that of Finiguerra in Florence and 

 that of Francesco Francia and his followers in Bologna. The 'Bolognese 

 nielli are for the most part the more finely engraved, the lines being 

 almost lost in the general tone. Supplementary to the nielli proper are 

 a considerable number of plates engraved in the same manner, but 

 definitely intended for printing. 



Early Florentine engraving shows two distinct groups, called from 

 their most marked difference of style, the Fine and the Broad manners. 

 The Fine Manner, which characterised the workshop of Finiguerra and 

 his followers, was the more closely allied to the technical quality of 

 niello. The lines of shading are laid closely and with frequent cross- 

 hatching, giving the idea of a washed drawing. The Broad Manner, on 

 the other hand, imitates the style of an open pen drawing, in which 

 the lines are chiefly laid in x^arallel strokes, generally with a lighter 

 return stroke at a small angle between the parallels. No master has 

 been suggested with any strong evidence as the head of this second 

 workshop, which for the most part shows the influence of Pesellino, 

 Filippo Lippi and Baldovinetti. 



Baecio Baldini is mentioned by Vasari as a successor of Finiguerra, 

 who worked chiefly from Botticelli's designs, and in several dictionaries 

 and old handbooks practically all the important early Florentme engrav- 

 ings are placed under his name ; but exact evidence as to his personality 

 or work is almost entirely wanting. 



The only other names of importance in early Florentine engraving 

 are those of the famous goldsmith, Antonio Pollaiuolo (1432 ?-98), 

 though he is only responsible for one large engraving, and Cristofano 

 Robetta (1462-after 1521). 



The anonymous Ferrarese series of instructive prints, wrongly called 

 Tarocchi Cards, are among the earliest engravings of North Italy (about 

 1465). A series of copies (probably Florentine) of the same series is held 

 by some critics to be the original. 



By far the greatest, and also one of the earliest, of North Italian 

 engravers, is the famous painter Andrea Mantegna (Vicenza, Padua, 

 Mantua; 1431-1506). The technical character of his work, in its open 

 system of parallel lines, is closely akin to the Broad Manner Florentine 

 group. A few engravings (only one with any show of reason) are also 

 attributed to Leonardo da Vinci (Florence, Milan, Amboise ; 1452- 

 1519). 



Of other engravers of North Italy of about 1500 the following are the 

 most interesting : 



Zoan Andrea. Mantua, Milan. Worked about 1475-1505. 



Giovanni Antonio da Brescia. Brescia ? Eonie. Worked from 

 before 1500-after 1516. 



Girolamo Mocetto. Venice. Before 1458-after 1530. 



Jacopo de' Barbari. Venice, Nuremberg, Burgundy, About 1450- 

 before 1516. 



Benedetto Montagna. Vicenza. About 1470-after 1540. 



