Marcantonio
Raimondi (aka Marcantonio) (1470/82–1527/34)
“The High
Priest Refuses Joachim's Sacrifice” (aka “Joachims
offer wordt geweigerd”; “Le Prêtre Refusant le Présent de Saint Joachim”), 1510–1515,
plate 1 from the series of seventeen prints with the Life of Mary as subject, “The
Life of the Virgin”, after the woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer (aka Albrecht Duerer)
(1471–1528) (see a view and description of Dürer’s woodcut offered by the
Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.33300).
This print
features in one of history’s pivotal points regarding copyright, as Dürer famously printed a stark warning in the colophon
for the 1511 edition of his series of woodcuts, “The Life of the Virgin”: “Beware you envious
thieves of the work of invention [Laboris et inguenii] of others, keep your
thoughtless hands from these works of ours. We have received a privilege from
the famous Emperor of Rome, Maximilian, that no one shall dare to print these
works in spurious forms, not sell such prints within the boundaries of the
Empire …” (see Lisa Pon 2004, “Raphael, Dürer, and Marcantonio Raimondi:
Copying and the Italian Renaissance Print”, New Haven, Yale University press, p.39).
Although Dürer was rightly enraged by the copying of his prints, this print was
engraved and published before the colophon warning was circulated.
Engraving on
laid paper trimmed around the image borderline with a narrow margin.
Size: (sheet)
29.3 x 21.4 cm; (image borderline) 29 x 21.1 cm.
Lettered in
plate in the style of Albrecht Dürer’s monogram on tablet at lower centre: “AD”;
numbered in plate (lower centre) “I”.
Lifetime
impression (based on the line quality showing no sign of wear to the printing
plate).
TIB 27. 621
(Konrad Oberhuber [ed.] 1978, “The Illustrated Bartsch: The Works of Marcantonio
Raimondi and of his School”, Part 2, vol. 27, New York, Abaris Books, p. 307,
cat. no. 621 [406]); Bartsch 406; Delaborde 235.
The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, The Rijksmuseum and The Fine Art Museums of San Franscisco offer
descriptions of this print: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/342705;
http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.34809;
https://art.famsf.org/marcantonio-raimondi/high-priest-refuses-joachims-sacrificepl-1-series-life-virgin-after-woodcuts.
Condition: a
strong, near faultless, impression, trimmed with a narrow margin around the
image borderline. There is a small tear at upper left and there is a curious
spread of glue verso, otherwise the sheet is in a remarkably good condition for
its size and age with no holes, folds, significant stains or foxing.
I am selling
this rare masterwork of engraving for the total cost of AU$448 (currently US$290.33/EUR288.38/GBP250.29
at the time of this listing) 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 this exceptionally fine engraving that is also an historical marking
point in the change of copyright restrictions in 1511, 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
