346 347347106 • ARENBERG AUCTIONS • 19.10.2019
Gravures anciennes – Oude prenten343 [Italian]MASTER HFE. After Amico ASPERINI - The Adoration of theshepherds. Italy, c. 1520-1550.Engraving, 30,2 x 22,8 cm, laid paper without watermark, signed at lower left(sm. repairs at upper corners, lower right corner and edges).250 / 300 €Very rare print of The Adoration set before a classical edifice with balustercolumns. Joseph sleeps in the foreground, the Virgin kneels at right and theChrist Child raises himself on one hand. The print was originally monogrammedin the cartouche above the central portal, but has been scraped off. A newsignature «I.V. Vicht f[ecit]» had been added with pen and ink, or in the plate.Only a handful of prints are known by the anonymous engraver who signedwith the monogram HFE. He often made reproductive engravings with classicalsubjects after works by the Bolognese painter Asperini (c. 1474 – 1552).Ref. Bartsch XV.461.1.344 [Italian]Master of the Die. After Baldassare PERUZZI - The story ofApollo and Daphne. c. 1530-1560.Engraving, 24,6 x 18,2 cm, laid paper, signed with a die at lower right corner(trimmed just outside platemark, small tear at uper left edge, old paper repair atupper right corner, number in pen and brown ink at bottom right corner). Stuckunder passe-partout.200 / 300 €346 [Italian]PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista - «Prima parte Architetture, eProspettive inventate». Rome, Fratelli Pagliari, 1750.2 etchings (of 20), 42 x 27; 40 x 28 cm, laid paper, signed in pl. at lower left(foxing). Under wooden gilt frames. Possibly later impressions.300 / 400 €These two etchings are part of the earliest collected works published by Piranesiand dedicated to the Venetian architect Nicola Giobbe, one of the artist’searly patrons in Rome. With these architectural fantasies the young Piranesialready shows many of the chief ingredients of his art such as the unorthodoxcombination of classical motifs, the manipulation of perspective, and themodulation of space by means of artful lighting. Our etchings consist of «Partiinteriore di Carcere» and «Camera sepolcrale inventata disegnata conforme alcostume». Accompanied with engr. text.Ref. Wilton-Ely 5 and 20.347 [Italian]PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista - Carceri d’Inventione. 1761.8 etchings (of 16), 41,2 x 54 cm, laid paper, signed in plate, wide margins (brownrust spots throughout, some sm. repaired tears). Stuck by upper corners on greencardb. support.2.000 / 3.000 €Apollo standing naked at left shooting a python at right with an arrow, aboveleft are the muses on a mound and at right on a cloud Cupid approaches Apollo.From the series on «The Story of Apollo and Daphne» (4 pl). Lettered with eightlines of text in two blocks in bottom margin.Ref. Bartsch 19.345 [Italian]Master of the Die. After RAPHAEL - Eight playing putti. Rome,Antonio Lafreri, c. 1531-1560.Engraving, 18,7 x 28,1 cm, laid paper with (unidentified) watermark,monogrammed in the plate on dice at lower right (trimmed to borderlines, someminor paper repairs on lower verso, sm. repair in upper right corner). Stuck byupper corners under passe-partout. A fine, rich, dark impression.400 / 500 €Beautiful print by the anonymous engraver Master with the Die, so-calledafter his signature which is placed on a small cube. He was a collaboratorof Marcantonio Raimondi and drew on ancient mythology. His prints arewonderfully narrative works, often inspired by compositions by Raphael.Ref. Bartsch 30.Prov. The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco (Coll. stampon verso L.3a).The famous ominous series with uncanny underground vaults, rooms andstairs. The series shows the workings of Piranesi’s vivid imagination, merginghis architectural ambitions with his obsessive interest in antiquity and hada profound influence not only on Romanticism, but also on Surrealism andon the writings of Marguerite Yourcenar. Fine dark impressions of the secondstate. They consist of «The Grand Piazza», «The Giant wheel», «Prisoners ona projecting platform», «the Arch with a Shell Ornament», «The well», «TheGothic Arch», «The Pier with Chains», «The Pier with a Lamp».Ref. Wilton-Ely I:29, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41.ARENBERG AUCTIONS • 19.10.2019 • 107