GRABADOS ARENBERG 19.10.2019

Gravures anciennes – Oude prenten
343 [Italian]
MASTER HFE. After Amico ASPERINI - The Adoration of the
shepherds. 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 baluster
columns. Joseph sleeps in the foreground, the Virgin kneels at right and the
Christ Child raises himself on one hand. The print was originally monogrammed
in the cartouche above the central portal, but has been scraped off. A new
signature «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 signed
with the monogram HFE. He often made reproductive engravings with classical
subjects 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 of
Apollo 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 at
upper right corner, number in pen and brown ink at bottom right corner). Stuck
under passe-partout.
200 / 300 €
346 [Italian]
PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista - «Prima parte Architetture, e
Prospettive 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 Piranesi
and dedicated to the Venetian architect Nicola Giobbe, one of the artist’s
early patrons in Rome. With these architectural fantasies the young Piranesi
already shows many of the chief ingredients of his art such as the unorthodox
combination of classical motifs, the manipulation of perspective, and the
modulation of space by means of artful lighting. Our etchings consist of «Parti
interiore di Carcere» and «Camera sepolcrale inventata disegnata conforme al
costume». 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 (brown
rust spots throughout, some sm. repaired tears). Stuck by upper corners on green
cardb. support.
2.000 / 3.000 €
Apollo standing naked at left shooting a python at right with an arrow, above
left 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 eight
lines 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, some
minor paper repairs on lower verso, sm. repair in upper right corner). Stuck by
upper corners under passe-partout. A fine, rich, dark impression.
400 / 500 €
Beautiful print by the anonymous engraver Master with the Die, so-called
after his signature which is placed on a small cube. He was a collaborator
of Marcantonio Raimondi and drew on ancient mythology. His prints are
wonderfully narrative works, often inspired by compositions by Raphael.
Ref. Bartsch 30.
Prov. The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco (Coll. stamp
on verso L.3a).
The famous ominous series with uncanny underground vaults, rooms and
stairs. The series shows the workings of Piranesi’s vivid imagination, merging
his architectural ambitions with his obsessive interest in antiquity and had
a profound influence not only on Romanticism, but also on Surrealism and
on the writings of Marguerite Yourcenar. Fine dark impressions of the second
state. They consist of «The Grand Piazza», «The Giant wheel», «Prisoners on
a projecting platform», «the Arch with a Shell Ornament», «The well», «The
Gothic 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