| Title: |
Fra Lelio Blancatcio (Brancaccio), Commander of Malta (Fra Lelio. Blancatcio. Commendat. Melit March. Mont. Silvan. A. Consil. Collater. Neapol. Cath. MA. A. Cons. Stat. Et. Suprem. Campi. Marschalc. (Brancaccio), Commander of Malta) |
| Engraver: |
Lauwers, Nicolaes (Leuze (Tournay) 1600 - Antwerp, 1652) |
| Designer: |
Van Dyck (Van Dyke), Anthony (Antwerp, Flanders, 1599 - 1641) |
| Date: |
1645 (First Published Edition by Gillis Hendricx, Antwerp) |
| Medium: |
Original Engraving |
| Note: |
Nicolaes Lauwers: One of the finest engravers in
the 'School of Rubens' Nicolaes Lauwers studied art in Antwerp and is
believed to have learned engraving techniques under Paulus Pontius. In
1620 he became a Master in the Guild of St. Luke and a Dean in 1635. During
his career Nicolaes Lauwers engraved fine plates after such contemporaries as Seghers,
Jordaens and Diepenbeeck, but his finest work is considered to be his
plates under the direction of Rubens and Van Dyck. For Rubens, Nicolaes Lauwers
engraved such portraits as that of Isabella, Infanta of Spain, and for
Van Dyck, Fra Lelio Blancatcio, the Commander of Malta. |
| |
Anthony Van Dyck and "The Iconography": The great age
of portrait engraving took place in the early and mid seventeenth century.
In France such remarkable portrait engravers as Robert Nanteuil and Antoine
Masson achieved fame at least equal to the most highly regarded painters.
In Belgium and Holland the division between painter and engraver/etcher
was much less distinct. Rembrandt was as great an etcher as a painter
and both Rubens and Van Dyck conducted a school of engravers under their
close personal supervision. In the 1620's Peter Paul Rubens founded an
engraver's school in Antwerp in order to render his paintings and drawings
into copper. Such great engravers as Lucas Vorsterman (1595-1675), Nicolaes
Lauwers (1600-1652), Boetius a Bolswert (1580-1633) and Paulus Pontius
(1603-1658) formed the cornerstone of what was soon known as the 'School
of Rubens'. |
| |
At the age of nineteen Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp, 1599-1641)
was admitted into the painter's Guild of Antwerp, as a Master. A year
later he was the senior assistant to Rubens. A superb portraitist, Van
Dyck became famous throughout Europe and later was appointed court painter
to King James the First of England. |
| |
Van Dyck was first introduced to both engraving and etching
by Peter Paul Rubens. Around 1630 he began his most ambitious printmaking
project to create a uniform series of engravings of famous contemporaries
derived from his portraits. Van Dyck provided his engravers with extensive
preparatory work, including drawings and oil sketches. He then corrected
his engraver's proofs and even etched the outline features on some of
the portraits. In the following years he designed and supervised about
eighty such portrait engravings which were published individually by Martin
van den Enden. His principal engravers included Paulus Pontius, Nicolaes
Lauwers, Pieter de Jode, Lucas Vorsterman, Robert van Voerst and others.
These wonderfully graceful portrait engravings were a high point of Baroque
art and proved to be perhaps the most influential group of portraits in
the history of printmaking. |
| |
The first complete published set of The Iconography
did not appear until four years after Van Dyck's death, in 1645. During
this year Gillis Hendricx published a series of one hundred Van Dyck portrait
engravings in three general categories; I, Princes, II, Scholars, and
III, Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Patrons of Art. (Interestingly,
portrayals of painters and engravers were deliberately placed on a level
equal to nobility and scholars.) The entire series now bore the title,
Icones Principum Vivorum Doctorum Pictorum ... Impressions from
this first published set contain the Gillis Hendricx letters, 'G. H.'
along the lower plate mark. |
| |
The demand for portraits from The Iconography was
so great that many subsequent editions were printed in the following decades.
The final edition was in fact published as late as 1759 and many of the
plates still survive in the Louvre. Detecting early from late impressions
of portraits from The Iconography, however, is not difficult. With
the deterioration of lines and contrasts, late impressions bear only a
ghostly relationship to first edition printings. Secondly, Gillis Hendricx
impressions were printed on a fine, laid paper with a distinct watermark
of a Foolscap containing five points, four large bells and braided hair
(seen in this impression in the lower margin). This watermark appears
on paper used in both Antwerp and Holland between 1640 and 1660. Lastly,
later impressions appear without the 'G. H.' along the lower plate-mark.
This impression of Fra Lelio Blancatcio, then, is clearly from
the 1645 edition. |
| |
Fra Lelio Blancatcio (also spelt Brancaccio) was
an Italian military strategist who served as a principal war advisor to
Antwerp and Flanders. He was the author of several important military
books, including, I Carichi Militari. Blancatcio was Knight of Saint-John
of Jerusalem and Commander of Malta. The full title under the image reads; "Fra Lelio. Blancatcio. Commendat. Melit March. Mont. Silvan. A. Consil. Collater. Neapol. Cath. MA. A. Cons. Stat. Et. Suprem. Campi. Marschalc. (Brancaccio), Commander of Malta". |
| Raisonne: |
F. Wibiral, L'Iconographie d' Antonie Van Dyck, Leipzig, 1877. |
| |
Catalogue #41. Second State, as published in the 1645 Hendricx edition. |
| Reference: |
(For watermark identification) Rembrandt: Experimental
Etcher, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 1969, pp. 181 - 183. (Catalogue
#15, illustrated on p. 182.) |
| Source: |
Icones Principum Vivorum Doctorum Pictorum Chalographorum
Statuariorum Nec Non Amatorum Pictoriae Artis Numero Centum AB Antonio
Van Dyck Pictore AD Vivum Expressae Eivsque Suptibus Aeri Incisae (The
Iconography) |
| Size: |
8 3/4 X 6 1/2 (Sizes in inches are approximate,
height preceding width of plate-mark or image.) |
| |
Matted with 100% Archival Materials |
| Condition: |
Printed upon fine 17th century, hand-made, laid paper and
with wide, full margins as published in Antwerp in 1645 by Gillis Hendricx.
Containing the period foolscap watermark (as described) along the lower
margin, under the plate-mark. A brilliant, early impression and in excellent
condition throughout. Fra Lelio Blancatcio represents a superb,
original example of portrait engraving from the famous Iconography
of Anthony Van Dyck. |
| Condition: |
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco includes an impression of this engraving in its permanent collection. |
| Price: |
Sold - The price is no longer available. |
| Important Information: |
The artist biographies, research and or information pertaining to all the original works of art posted on our pages has been written and designed by Greg & Connie Peters exclusively for our site, (www.artoftheprint.com). Please visit us regularly to view the latest artworks offered for sale. We will soon be posting an update of our most recent research and include the biographical and historical information pertaining to our next collection of original works of art created by artists throughout the centuries. We hope you found the information you were looking for and that it has been beneficial.
Our Gallery, (Art of the Print / www.artoftheprint.com) guarantees the authenticity of every work of art we sell 100%. Full documentation and certification is provided. We offer a wide selection of international fine art dating from the early Renaissance to the contemporary art period. |
or
phone Greg & Connie (905) 957-6666