Caritas

Allegory of Charity, depicted through a woman seated on clouds nursing one child and holding another by the hand.

Engraving, ca. 1510/30, signed with engraver's initials in lower center I. F.

Example of the very rare first state of two, before the adding of the veil, halo, and parallel hatching at the female figure's shoulders.

The engraved characters respect the tradition of the Bolognese artists, but the composition may owe something to the four roundels in Raphael's ceiling decoration in the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican (1509-1511). Even if he had not visited Rome, Giacomo Francia may have seen the Poesia, an engraving by di Marcantonio Raimondi (Bartsch XIV.291.382), derived from the composition.

Hind describes only two early state examples of this engraving, preserved in the Albertina in Vienna and the Devonshire Collection in Chatsworth.

The Vienna specimen, reproduced by Hind (in 1938/48) in a fair state of preservation, is currently in a far worse state of preservation than ours, as we can see in the Albertina's online catalog.

https://sammlungenonline.albertina.at/?query=search=/record/objectnumbersearch=[DG1958/27/1]&showtype=record

As mentioned, the second state of the plate (of which Hind describes five examples), is completely reworked. The veil-which falls over the shoulders behind the female figure's head-and a large halo are added; the figure is now shaded, through the use of parallel horizontal lines. This is the specimen preserved at the Albertina, reproduced in The Illustrated Bartsch:

https://sammlungenonline.albertina.at/?query=search=/record/objectnumbersearch=[DG1958/27/2]&showtype=record

Giacomo Raibolini also known as Giacomo Francia or Jacopo Francia (Bologna, 1484-1557) was an Italian Renaissance painter and engraver. He was the eldest son of Francesco Francia, and like his father was called the Francia. His father and brother Giulio were also painters. He began to learn the art of painting from his father by working as his assistant. In 1517, the year of his father's death, he and his brother Julius took over the family business and together executed many altarpieces, identifiable by the initials (II) of their Latinized names (Iacobus and Iulius). In later life Giacomo was influenced by Dosso Dossi. He died in Bologna in 1567.

Beautiful impressions, printed on contemporary laid paper without watermark, trimmed to copper or with thin margins, traces of glue and some abrasions, overall in good condition.

Very rare work.

Bibliografia

Hind A. M. Early Italian Engraving, a critical catalogue (I.II); Bartsch; Le Peintre graveur (XV.457.3); Incisori bolognesi ed emiliani del sec. XVI, schede di S. Ferrara, revisione di G. Gaeta Bertelà, n. 234; S. Boorsch e J. Spike, The Illustrated Bartsch, 31, p. 292, n. 3-II (457); N. Roio, Franceco Raibolini detto Francia. La vita, le opere, l'eredità artistica, in E. Negro, N. Roio, “Francesco Francia e la sua scuola”, p. 88.