Édouard
Baldus (1813–1889)
“Composition Study for the
Adoration of the Magi” (aka “Adoration des Mages”), 1867, héliogravure after Leonardo
da Vinci’s (1452-1519) ink
and silverpoint study for the “Adoration
of the Magi” (c.1481) in the collection of the Musée du Louvre, Paris,
published in the “Gazette des Beaux Arts”, (vol. 9,
1867, no. 2, pp. 534–35) and printed by Alfred Salmon (fl.1863–1894).
This héliogravure reproduces the
true size of Leonardo’s drawing that was once in the collection of the editor
of the “Gazette des Beaux Arts”, Émile Galichon. According
to “The History of Photography Archive” (https://www.flickr.com/photos/photohistorytimeline/31324526865),
this print is “the only one of Baldus gravures to appear in this journal.”
The “Photography Archive” also advises
that Édouard Baldus “became a
central figure in the early development of French photography and acknowledged
in his day as a pioneer in the still-experimental field, was widely acclaimed
both for his aesthetic sensitivity and for his technical prowess.” See
additional information about this artist offered by the Fine Arts Museums of
San Francisco: https://art.famsf.org/%C3%A9douard-baldus.
Héliogravure with some areas of burin (e.g. the
fine lines on the Madonna’s cheek) and plate tone printed in a warm black ink
on laid paper backed with a support sheet. Note that this print was originally
folded with a support strip (verso) on the fold crease, but this strip has been
removed and the fold flattened.
See this print in its
context in the “Gazette des Beaux Arts” offered by Archive.org:
Size: (sheet) 34.1 x 27.3
cm; (soft platemark) 29.2 x 25.1 cm; (image borderline) 23.9 x 24 cm. Note that
the foot of an atttendant to the Madonna passes through the image borderline. I
understand that this was necessary so that the size of the image conformed to
the format requirements of the “Gazette des Beaux Arts.”
Lettered on plate below
the image borderline: (left) “LÉONARD
DE VINCI DEL./ Gaxette des Beaux-Arts.”; (centre) “ADORATION DES MAGES/ Premier
pensée du Tableau de Florence./ Coltion. De M. Emile Galichon.”; (right) BALDUS
SCULP./ Imp. A. Salmon, Paris.”
The Louvre offers the following very interesting insight about the composition of “Adoration of the Magi”:
(Transl.) “In his
representation of Adoration, Leonardo da Vinci chose
not to relate one of the episodes in the mythical history of the pilgrimage of
the Three Kings, but the upheaval that the birth of the Child brings about. … The
movement of the figures pressing around the central point is like a
prefiguration of the effect of ‘amplification of gestures’ that will translate,
fifteen years later, the emotion spread like a wave among the Apostles of the ‘Last
Supper’. Flexion of the hands and plays of glances are already read here and
translate, as the tense faces and the impatient hands detached on the dark
background which encircles the whole foreground, an anxious fervor”
Condition: strong
impression with flattened centre-crease of publication in very good condition (beyond
a few pale marks in the margin). The sheet is laid upon a support sheet of
archival (millennium quality) washi paper.
I am selling this visually
engaging héliogravure of Leonardo’s drawn study for his “Adoration of the Magi”,
made by one of the pioneers of using experimental processes of photography—note
how he has erased (perhaps even “photoshopped” may be an appropriate term?) the
foxing marks of the original drawing—for AU$202 (currently US$139.50/EUR123.50/GBP111.62
at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some
countries).
If you are interested in
purchasing this interesting example of early photogravure with passages of hand
gravure, 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
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