Battle of the Nudes

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5). There also appear to be some reinforced engraved lines and possibly some additional fine lines cut closely along the diagonal shading on the left side of the tree trunk at the far right, to the right of the forearm of the figure holding the chain (fig. 6). The plant stalk that rises above the right shoulder of the right figure holding the chain, which stops abruptly at a leaf in the first state, is extended in the second state, behind the leaf and the vine, above the sword blade, and behind the vine looped around the tree branches (fig. 7). Besides the careful addition of lines between the shading patches on the ax man's inner thigh at the far right (see fig. 2), touches of additional line work are evident elsewhere: above and below some of the vines wrapped around the tree trunks at left and right (fig. 8); between parallel shading lines in some plant stalks and leaves in the area above the figure at the far right stabbing the man on the ground; in some of the foliage to the right of the ar- cher at far left; above and below the name plaque; and in the shading on the quiver above and below the left ax man's proper left thigh (fig. 9). A rib was added to a leaf 29
Fig. 9. Details showing additional line work in the second state. Cleveland (left), Boston (right). to the left of the head and proper right shoulder of the figure at the far right stabbing the man on the ground; and a few section lines were inserted on some plant stalks at right, to the left of the right ax man's stomach, for example. It should be noted that much of the added shading is executed in a manner in keeping with some of the fine zigzag-type lines already found in background areas in the first state (fig. 10). However, aside from the alteration of the thigh shadow and what appear to be a few tiny strokes on the navel of the figure in the lower right stabbing the man on the ground (fig. 11), the shading and contours of the figures appear to be untouched. Overall, the reworking of the plate seems limited, even nuanced in some places, with most changes focused on adjusting shading here and there to increase the sense of space around or between adjacent objects. Admittedly, there is some variation of refinement in the changes. The tiny adjustments to the shading on the quiver and in some of the foliage, and the lines in the patch of shading on the far right ax man's thigh appear more delicately executed than some of the quick short strokes added above and below the name plaque and vines, or in the re-engraving of some of the interstices of the background. However, the intention or motivation appears to be the same. The explanation for these alterations may be revealed by the most obvious one—the shading of the ax man's thigh. This is clearly not re-engraving of worn lines but a conscious decision to sacrifice the specificity of muscular definition in order to clarify the placement of the leg behind another figure by shading the thigh. Thus the evident changes to the plate and the fact that the figures, where the finest shading lines occur and which are thus most vulnerable to wear, were largely unaltered suggests that the reworking was aesthetically motivated rather than an attempt to strengthen a worn plate. Aside from state changes, the type of printing ink can also dramatically affect an impression's appearance. One reason that Richards may have been deceived about the extent of rework in the second state is the extreme difference between the inks used in the Cleveland and Fogg impressions, the two examples she cited for comparison. Cleveland's ink is thin and sparsely pigmented. Therefore, in many fine lines, pigment particles appear as if individually suspended along the em- bossed line instead of as a continuous solid black (fig. 12a). The effect is similar to knots spaced along a piece of thread. As a result, white paper shows through the spaces between the black particles, the lines have a blurred edge, and from a dis- 30
Page 1 and 2: Battle of the Nudes POLLAIUOLO'S RE
Page 3 and 4: Pollaiuolo's print is also somethin
Page 8 and 9: tance the image appears silvery gra
Page 10 and 11: difficult and time consuming to rec
Page 12 and 13: and eliminating the subtlety of mod
Page 14 and 15: were so enamored of them that they
Page 16 and 17: cution differs in the engraving, th
Page 18 and 19: interior modeling that suggests a s
Page 20 and 21: ously he renders the limbs." 42 A c
Page 22 and 23: own inscription on the tomb of Sixt
Page 24 and 25: sponse to the crude interpretation
Page 26 and 27: attributed to Perugino's most famou
Page 28 and 29: the plate in an attempt to alter th
Page 30 and 31: visited Florence. And although wild
Page 32 and 33: plate was cut, that while the sheer
Page 34 and 35: Italian printmaker, possibly Paduan
Page 36 and 37: of the Pollaiuolo" (Ph.D. diss., Co
Page 38: 67. Martin Clayton, Raphael and His

Battle of the Nudes

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