Georg Pencz - Musica or Music

Musica (Music)

Georg Pencz's "Musica" (Music) is undoubtedly the most famous of the seven miniature engravings this German Renaissance artist created to depict the "Seven Liberal Arts" in or around the year 1541. Here, Georg Pencz has depicted the muse of music playing a contemporary organ. Behind the instrument a winged putti or cupid appears to be working the bellows. This original engraving, is printed upon sixteenth century hand-made, laid paper and and bears an unknown collector's imprint on the verso. "Musica" is signed in the plate by Georg Pencz with his 'PG' monogram. It is a fine, original example of the miniature art created by Georg Pencz

Musica (Music)

View other original engravings by Georg Pencz.

Georg Pencz (Nuremberg, C. 1500 - Breslau, 1550)
#	Image	Title & Artist	Medium	Date	Notes	-
01-		Christ and the Adulterous Woman by Georg Pencz	Original Engraving	c. 1540	The Illustrated Bartsch, Volume 16. Catalogue # 55, First and Only State.	Sold
02.-		Dialectica by Georg Pencz	Original Engraving	c. 1541	The Illustrated Bartsch, Volume 16. Catalogue # 111, First and Only State.	Sold
03.-		Musica (Music) by Georg Pencz	Original Engraving	c. 1541	The Illustrated Bartsch, Volume 16. Catalogue # 114, First and Only State.	Sold

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Title:	Musica (Music)
Artist:	Pencz, Georg (Nuremberg, C. 1500 - Breslau, 1550)
Date:	c. 1541
Medium:	Original Engraving
Note:	Georg Pencz: Generally regarded as one of the greatest original engravers of his time, Georg Pencz was admitted into the illustrious Nuremberg Guild of Artists in 1523, after he had served his apprenticeship under none other than Albrecht Durer. Pencz, in fact, is the only known student of Durer. Although his first commissioned works of art were paintings, Pencz came into close contact in this decade with the brothers, Barthel Beham and Hans Sebald Beham. Together, these three talented engravers would come to be known to history as the 'Little Masters', so named because all three created incomparable miniature engravings on a scale such as this original example.
	Georg Pencz lived in tumultuous times. Sparked by the resistance of Martin Luther and his followers, religious struggles were at the forefront. Along with several other prominent artists and writers, Pencz was accused of 'heresy' and was banished from Nuremberg in 1524. Far from it adversely affecting his art, the sentence gave Georg Pencz the opportunity to travel widely, particularly in Italy. There, Georg Pencz came under the powerful influence of the Italian Renaissance, most notably the designs of Raphael and the engraving school of Marc-Antonio Raimondi. It is speculated that he created his first engraving there in 1535. Shortly thereafter Pencz returned to Germany and in the following fifteen year span produced an outstanding oeuvre of over one hundred miniature engravings, most dealing with scenes from the Old and New Testaments and from classical mythology.
	More than any other artist, Georg Pencz successfully amalgamated the best elements of Northern and Southern Renaissance art. This original engraving serves as a prime example, for in this miniature masterpiece one can detect the firm outlines and psychological tensions so dominant in German Renaissance art, with the fine shadings and the grace and beauty of form so characteristic of the high Italian Renaissance. Only a true master such as Georg Pencz could accomplish all these marvels within such an amazingly small architectural space.
	"Musica" (Music) belongs to a series of engravings Georg Pencz created to depict the "Seven Liberal Arts". Most scholars agree that Pencz made these engravings in or around the year 1541. "Musica" is undoubtedly the most famous of these seven engravings. Here Pencz has depicted the muse of music playing a contemporary organ. Behind the instrument a winged putti or cupid appears to be working the bellows.
Raisonne:	The Illustrated Bartsch, Volume 16. Catalogue # 114, First and Only State.
	It is mentioned that a copy of Musica exists. It is, however, easy to determine the copy as it was made in reverse. Also, the author mentions that in the earliest impressions the horizontal line marking off the table between the organ and the woman's body is clearly visible. Thus this impression of Musica is very early.
Source:	The Seven Liberal Arts
Size:	3 X 2 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	Framed and Matted with 100% Archival Materials
Condition:	Printed upon sixteenth century hand-made, laid paper and with margins trimmed to the plate-mark, as is usual for early old master engravings and etchings. Bearing an unknown collector's imprint on the verso. Signed in the plate by Pencz with his famous 'PG' monogram. Also there is a very faint diagonal crease mark in the upper right corner, else a very early, strong impression and in excellent condition throughout. Musica represents a superb, original example of the famous Renaissance art of Georg Pencz.
Price:	Sold - The price is no longer available.
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