Jan 24, 2023
Platemark s2e23 continues hosts Ann Shafer and Tru Ludwig’s conversation on reproductive prints. Once again, for clarity, a reproductive print is one in which an artist creates a design (a drawing, painting, sculpture) and another artist creates a print after that original design. These can be sanctioned by the first artist or not or they can occur long after the first artist‘s death. It is customary to acknowledge all the artists in the strip of lettering at the bottom of the print (called the address). This way credit is given where due. Over time, reproductive prints became quite formulaic and staid—wait until we get to the early 19th century. When photography was developed in the 1830s, it wasn’t long before there was little need for the reproductive print.
Episode image : Domenico del Barbiere (Italian, 1506–1565) after Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564). Group from Last Judgment, St. Bartholomew, St. Peter, and other Apostles, n.d. Engraving. Sheet: 14 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. (37.5 x 22.5 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Israhel van Meckenem (German, c. 1445–1503) after Martin Schongauer
(German, 1445–1491). Death of the Virgin, c. 1480/90.
Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 24.8 x 16.9 cm (9 3/4 x 6
5/8 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Martin Schongauer (German, 1445–1491). Death of the
Virgin, c. 1470–74. Engraving. Plate: 25.7 x 16.8 cm.
Achenbach Foundation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). The Presentation in the
Temple, from the series The Life of the Virgin, c.
1505. Woodcut. Sheet: 17 3/8 x 12 1/16 in. (44.2 x 30.6 cm.);
image: 11 11/16 x 8 3/16 in. (29.7 x 20.8 cm.). Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York.
Marcantonio Raimondi (Italian, c. 1480–before 1534) after Albrecht
Dürer (German, 1471–1528). The Presentation of Jesus to Simeon
in the Temple, c. 1500–34. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed within
platemark): 11 7/16 × 8 1/8 in. (29 × 20.7 cm.). Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.
Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Knight, Death, and the
Devil, 1513. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 9 5/8 x
7 1/2 in. (245 x 190 mm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York.
Master LCz (German, active c. 1480–1505). The Temptation of
Christ, c. 1500/1505. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark):
227 x 165 mm. (8 15/16 x 6 ½ in.). National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C.
Martin Schongauer (German, c. 1435/50–1491). Saint Anthony
Tormented by Demons, c. 1470–75. Engraving. Sheet: 30 x 21.8
cm (11 13/16 x 8 9/16 in). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York.
Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). The Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse, from the series The Apocalypse, 1498.
Woodcut. 393 x 285 mm (15 1/2 x 11 1/4 in). Baltimore Museum of
Art, Baltimore.
Laocoön and His Sons, c. 200 BCE–70 CE. Marble. 208 × 163
× 112 cm. (6’ 10 » × 5’ 4 » × 3’ 8 »). Vatican Museums, Vatican
City.
The Dying Gaul, Roman copy after a sculpture situated in
the Pergamon Acropolis. Photo: DEA / G. NIMATALLAH/Getty Images
Winged Victory of Samothrace, 2nd century BCE.
Marble. Height: 2.75 m. Louvre, Paris.
Marco Dente da Ravenna (Italian, active by 1515–1527). Laocoön
and his two sons being attacked by serpents, c. 1506.
Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 11 1/8 × 15 5/8 in. (282 ×
397 mm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Marco Dente da Ravenna (Italian, active 1515–1527). Laocoön and
his two sons being attacked by serpents, c. 1520. Engraving.
Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 17 7/16 × 12 15/16 in. (443 × 329
mm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Nicolas Beatrizet (French, 1515–c. 1566). Laocoön, 16th
century. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 17 1/2 x 12 3/16
in. (44.5 x 31 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
William Blake (British, 1757–1827). Laocoön, c. 1826–27.
Engraving.
Félix Bracquemond (French, 1833–1914). Portrait of Edmond de
Goncourt, 1881–82. Etching and drypoint (eighth state of
eight). Plate: 510 x 339 mm (20 1/16 x 13 3/8 in.). Minneapolis
Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN.
Félix Bracquemond (French, 1833–1914). Portrait of Edmond de
Goncourt, 1881–82. Etching and drypoint (first state of
eight). Plate: 510 x 339 mm (20 1/16 x 13 3/8 in.). Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.
Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564). David, 1504. Marble.
Height: 16.9 ft. Galleriea dell’Accademia, Florence.
Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564). Awakening Slave, c.
1520–23. Marble. Height : 267 cm. Galleriea dell’Accademia,
Florence.
Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564). The Atlas, c. 1530–34.
Marble. Height : 277 cm. Galleriea dell’Accademia,
Florence.
Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, 1520–1582) after Raphael (Italian,
1483–1520). The School of Athens, 1550. Engraving. Sheet
(trimmed within platemark): 513 x 810 mm. (20 3/8 x 31 7/8 in.).
British Museum, London.
Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564). The Last Judgment,
1536–41. Fresco. 13.7 m × 12 m (45 × 39 ft.).
Sistine Chapel, Vatican City.
Giulio Bonasone (Italian, 1531–after 1576) after Michelangelo
(Italian, 1475–1564). The Last Judgment, 1546–50.
Engraving. Sheet: 22 13/16 × 17 3/8 in. (58 × 44.2 cm).
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Martin Rota (Italian, c. 1520–1583) after Michelangelo (Italian,
1475–1564). The Last Judgment, 1569. Engraving.
Sheet : 318 x 233 mm.). British Museum, London.
Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, 1520–1582) after Michelangelo (Italian,
1475–1564). The Last Judgment, c. 1545–1565. Engraving.
Sheet: 1202 x 1055 mm. (47 3/8 x 41 ½ in.). Museum of Fine Arts,
Budapest, Hungary.
Domenico del Barbiere (Italian, 1506–1565) after Michelangelo
(Italian, 1475–1564). Group from Last Judgment, St.
Bartholomew, St. Peter, and other Apostles, n.d. Engraving.
Sheet: 14 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. (37.5 x 22.5 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York.
Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, c. 1520–1852) after Michelangelo (Italian,
1475–1564). The Delphic Sibyl, from the series of
Prophets and Sibyls in the Sistine Chapel,
1570–75. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 22 1/4 × 16 9/16
in. (56.5 × 42 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452–1519). Madonna and Child with
St. Anne and the Young St. John, 1507–08. Charcoal heightened
with white chalk. 141.5 x 106 cm. National Gallery, London.
Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564). Pietà, 1498–99. Marble.
174 × 195 cm (68.5 × 76.8 in). St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican
City.
Raphael (Italian, 1483–1520). Madonna of the Goldfinch,
1506. Oil on wood. 107 x 77.2 cm. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Pontormo (Italian, 1494–1557). Descent from the Cross, c.
1528. Oil on panel. 313 x 192 cm. (85 x 75 in.). Capponi Chapel,
Santa Felicita, Florence.
Parmigianino (Italian, 1503–1540). Madonna and Child with
Angels (Madonna with the Long Neck), c. 1534–40. Oil on panel.
216.5 x 132.5 cm. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Tru Ludwig with garden statuary.
Domenico Beccafumi (Italian, 1486–1551). Apostle Holding a
Tablet, 1500–52. Chiaroscuro woodcut. 40.9 x 21.4 cm. Library
of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564). Moses from the Tomb
of Pope Julius II, c. 1513–15. Marble. 235 x 210 cm. (92 ½ x
82 5/8 in.). San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome.
Ugo da Carpi (Italian, c. 1470–1532) after Parmigianino (Italian,
1503–1540). Diogenes, c. 1527–30. Chiaroscuro woodcut
printed from four blocks in gray-green. Image: 18 11/16 x 13 5/8
in. (475 x 346 mm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio (Italian, c. 1500/05–1565).
Diogenes, c. 1526–27. Engraving. Sheet: 286 x 217 mm. (11
¼ x 8 9/16 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Antonio da Trento (Italian, c. 1508–1550) after Parmigianino
(Italian, 1503–1540). The Martyrdom of Saints Peter and
Paul, c. 1530. Chiaroscuro woodcut printed from three blocks
in dark green (line block), gray-green, and light gray-brown.
Sheet: 28.5 x 46 cm (11 1/4 x 18 1/8 in.). National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C.
Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio (Italian, c. 1500/05–1565) after
Parmigianino (Italian, 1503–1540). The Martyrdom of Saints
Peter and Paul, 1524–27. Engraving. Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York.
Raphael (Italian, 1483–1520). School of Athens, 1509–11.
Stanza della Segnatura, Apostolic Palace, Vatican.
Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, 1520–1582), after Raphael (Italian,
1483–1520). The School of Athens, 1550. Engraving. Sheet
(trimmed within platemark): 513 x 810 mm. (20 3/8 x 31 7/8 in.).
British Museum, London.
Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, 1520–1582), after Giovanni Battista Bertani
(Italian, 1516–1576). Hercules Victorious Over the Hydra,
c. 1558. Engraving. Plate: 35 x 20.8 cm. (13 3/4 x 8 3/16 in.).
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Selected Bibliography
Linda Hults. The Print in the Western World: An Introductory History. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996.
Rebecca Zorach and Elizabeth Rodini, editors. Paper Museums: The Reproductive Print in Europe, 1500–1800. Chicago: Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, 2005.
Antony Griffiths. The Print Before Photography: An Introduction to European Printmaking 1550–1820. London: British Museum, 2016.