Jacopo Ligozzi-2014-Jean-Luc-Baroni

descriptions (fig.1) 17 . A second print, of inferior
quality and in reverse after Andreani’s woodcut,
was executed in 1647 by Ludolf Büsinck (1599-
1669), and is known in a single impression
in Kassel 18 . A third print, an engraving by an
anonymous 16 th century artist, is known from
one example in the British Museum (fig.2) 19 .
Stylistically, the latter would seem to have been
executed by an Italian artist around the last quarter
of the 16th century 20 and is inscribed below the
image with a Latin epigram and the name of the
inventor of the composition: “Jacopo Ligozzi
Magni Ducis Etruriae pictor pinxit” 21 . A fourth
print, in the same direction and showing the
same composition as that of the engraving by the
anonymous Italian artist in the British Museum, is
a colour aquatint made by Maria Katharina Prestel
(1747- 1794) (fig.3) 22 . According to the inscription
on the aquatint, it was executed in 1777 23 , after a
drawing by Ligozzi then in the collection of Paul
de Praun in Nuremberg, which probably served
as the model for the British Museum print too, as
can be deduced by the fact that both prints show
exactly the same composition.
Although the woodcut by Andreani, the two
copies after the de Praun drawing and the painting
illustrate the same subject, they show a number
of differences in detail. The most striking one
is the male allegorical figure, who recurs in all
four prints, but does not appear in the painting.
Another is the absence of Cupid’s blindfold and
quiver in the painting, whereas all the prints show
him blindfolded, and in the Prestel aquatint he
holds a quiver too, thus making his identification
as Cupid clearer than in the painting. Only in
Andreani’s woodcut is Virtue shown pointing
towards three objects lying at her feet: a sceptre,
a sword and scales. In Andreani’s woodcut, the
old woman has bat wings on her head, whereas
these are depicted on the figure’s back in both
2. Anonymous after Ligozzi, engraving, late 16 th century,
London, British Museum.
3. Katharina Prestel after Ligozzi, colour aquatint,
Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinstitut.
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