Jean Cousin, “Brazilian Diet”, 1558

Attributed to, or from the circle of, Jean Cousin the younger (c1525–c1595), and/or Jean Goujon (c1510–c1565/68), and/or Germain Pilon (1535–1590) (see attribution offered by Christie’s Auctions: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5909342).

“Brazilian Diet”, 1558, published in Paris in 1558 by Maurice de La Porte (II) (1490–1558) as an illustration on page 57 to André Thevet’s (1516–1590) “Les Singularitez de la France antarctique, autrement nommée Amérique: & de plusieurs terres & isles decouvertes de nostre temps” (The Singularities of Antarctic France, otherwise called America: & of several lands & islands discovered in our time).

Archive.org offers an online view of this print and its context in the publication: https://archive.org/details/DELTA54095RES/page/n139/mode/2up.

To give an idea of the flavour of the text accompanying this extraordinarily fine woodcut, the following extract is from text above the print when it was published (my apologies if my reading and translation of the French text contains errors): “And even in our early Europe, and before the earth was cultivated and inhabited, men lived even more austerely without flesh or fish, not having the industry to eat it: and yet were robust, and lived long, without being as effeminate as those of our time: who are all the more delicately treated, and the more subject to illnesses and debilities” (p. 44).

Woodcut on laid paper trimmed around the image borderline with letterpress text verso, backed with a support sheet providing wide margins.

Size: (sheet) 8.7 x 11.2 cm.

Condition: a strong lifetime impression (based on the quality of line showing no sign of wear to the printing plate) trimmed with a thread margin. The sheet is in an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains, laid upon a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins.

I am selling this exceptionally rare and historically important Renaissance period woodcut showing for the first time in Europe a scene of Brazilians eating with the advice extracted from the published text (apologies if there are errors in my reading of the French text), “The more delicately fed men are, the less robust they are” (p. 44), for AU$247 in total (currently US$161.81/EUR149.03/GBP125.70 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$247) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in this extraordinary woodcut executed in Michelangelo’s lifetime showing one of earliest depictions of indigenous native Americans, 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