Étienne Delaune, “July”, 1568

Étienne Delaune (aka Stephanus) (c.1518–1583)

“July”, 1568, plate 7 from the series of twelve engravings, “Twelve Months” (aka “The Labours of the Months”).

Engraving on fine laid paper trimmed close to the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 5.6 x 8.2 cm; (oval image borderline) 5.5 x 7.7 cm.

Lettered in plate (indistinct) along the lower edge: (left) “IVLLIET”; (right) “CVM PRĪ REGIS”.

Robert-Dumesnil 191 (A.P.F. Robert-Dumesnil 1835, “Le peintre-graveur français, ou catalogue raisonné des estampes gravées par les peintres et les dessinateurs de l'école française: ouvrage faisant suite au peintre-graveur de Bartsch”, vol. 9, Paris, G Warée, p. 58, cat. no. 191); Pollet 100 (Christophe Pollet 1995, “Les gravures d'Etienne Delaune [1518-1583]”, vol. 1, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, pp. 347–48, cat. no. 100).

See also the description of this print offered by the Davison Art Collection (Wesleyan University): https://dac-collection.wesleyan.edu/objects-1/info/4427.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers the following insights about this print: “Engraving, part of a series of twelve oval prints with allegorical representations of the months with the seasonal labors inherited from the Middle Ages. The activities illustrated in the series do not seem to have a moral sense, and depict relatively simple scenes with characters dressed in simple garbs, executing their labors in rustic landscapes. In this print, July is represented by an outdoor scene dominated by Leo, the attribute of the month. Two peasants appear in the first plane, one mowing the crops and the other sharpening his scythe. In the second plane, a group of small characters are bathing in a river, one of them running on the river bank. In the background, a man drives a hay truck. The theme of this representation, centered on the crops of hay, is consistent with traditional representations of the labors of the months, including the ‘Calendrier et Kompost des Bergers’” (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/749564).

Condition: a fine and well-printed impression trimmed along to the platemark and laid onto a sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins.

I am selling this small and delicately executed engraving showing the activity of harvesting associated with the month of July—note also in the middle distance naked figures having fun in the river that must be possible during this warmer month—for the total cost of AU $298 (currently US $188.51/ EUR 179.55/ GBP 151.91 at the time of posting this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU $298) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this sensitively rendered tiny jewel of an engraving, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold