Ornamental panel: Victoria Augusta
| Reference: | S37770 |
| Author | Nicoletto ROSEX detto Nicoletto da Modena |
| Year: | 1510 ca. |
| Measures: | 128 x 265 mm |
€600.00
| Reference: | S37770 |
| Author | Nicoletto ROSEX detto Nicoletto da Modena |
| Year: | 1510 ca. |
| Measures: | 128 x 265 mm |
€600.00
Description
Engraving, 1510 circa, signed with monogram “N. O” in the bottom panel. In two panels at top, 'VICTORIA' and 'AUGUSTA'.
Good example, printed on laid paper, trimmed at margins, in very good condition.
“This panel, inscribed "VICTORIA AUGUSTA" (the victory of Augustus), appears to illustrate the flourishing of the arts made possible by the advent of peace. This theme and the inscription specifically recall the famous "Pax Augusta," the peace of Augustus, which is also alluded to in another of Nicoletto's grotesque panels (H. 107) (fig. 24-1), which bears the inscriptions "VICTORIA AUGUSTI," "SPES PUBLICA" (hope of the people), and "PAX AETERN (eternal peace). In our print the lyre of Apollo, god of the arts, is juxtaposed with more rustic instruments, the bagpipe and flutes of fauns and satyrs. The inset scenes depict related subjects: the story of Apollo and Daphne, Pan with his pipes, and the flaying of Marsyas after his defeat by Apollo in a musical contest. It seems likely that the entire series of ornament panels was meant to recall the history of Rome. The Judgment of Paris, in the first panel, was a prelude to the Trojan War, which led to Aeneas's flight and ultimately to the founding of Rome. The second and third panels, which deal with victorious wars, may allude to the creation of the Romarn Empire, which was finally consolidated under the Pax Augusta.”
“The fineness of the technique and the type of grotesque ornament em- ployed suggest that these prints were executed by Nicoletto during his first trip to Rome. We know that he visited the Golden House of Nero, which at that time was a prime source for the study of grotesque decoration, in 1507. Actually, Nicoletto did not directly imitate the Neronic style of ornament, as Giovanni da Udine was to do later instead he followed the interpretation of it developed by Pinturicchio, Signorelli, Aspertini, and others” Jacqueline L. Sheehan.
Active between the end of the fifteenth century and the third decade of the sixteenth century, he was the most prolific of the early Italian engravers. After the beginnings in Emilia, in which appear clearly visible relations that Nicoletto entertained with the culture of Ferrara and with the workshop of Francesco Francia in Bologna, from 1487 the engraver is documented in Padua for about twenty years, he had the opportunity to mature, under the influence of the school of Andrea Mantegna, a free and eccentric vision of the ancient, is to be attributed the famous engraving depicting Four naked women, known in three copies and signed and dated 1500.
In 1507, Rosex moved to Rome. The Capitoline production is characterized by a renewed interest in the classical world, as evidenced by prints depicting Apelles, the Equestrian Statue of Marc'Aurelius and the series of ornamental panels, in which the grotesque decoration is treated as an independent subject. It is likely that the Roman stay was of short duration, since in 1510 Nicoletto is documented at work in the ducal palace of Modena. The activity of the last years, in which is recognizable the knowledge of the engravings of Marcantonio Raimondi and Giulio Campagnola, is recognizable for the preponderance of the architectural element and for the new centrality of the human figure in the space. Also the engraving sign is characterized by a greater homogeneity and by better shading.
Bibliografia
Hind 1938-48 106.II; Bartsch XIII.286.57; Early Italian Engravings from the National Gallery of Art, no. 175.
Nicoletto ROSEX detto Nicoletto da Modena (Attivo dal 1490 - 1525)
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Active between the end of the fifteenth century and the third decade of the sixteenth century, he was the most prolific of the early Italian engravers. Nonetheless, there is very little biographical information available about him, and even the eulogy drawn by Ludovico Vedriani (Raccolta de' pittori, scultori et architetti modenesi più celebriesi, Modena 1662), the only ancient source to report on the engraver, appears very generic.
After his beginnings in Emilia, where Nicoletto's relations with the culture of Ferrara and with Francesco Francia's workshop in Bologna are clearly visible, the engraver is documented in Padua for about twenty years after 1487. In 1487 and 1493 Rosex appears as a witness in three notarial acts of Padua, while in 1497 he received a payment in his favor from the Massaro dell'Arca del Santo for restoration work carried out in the Basilica of St. Anthony. To the stay in Padua, in which the Modenese had the opportunity to mature, under the influence of the school of Andrea Mantegna, a free and eccentric vision of the ancient, is to be traced the famous engraving depicting Four naked women, known in three copies and signed and dated 1500. In 1506 Rosex obtained his most important task: the bishop of Padua Pietro Barozzi commissioned him the decoration, then lost, of the chapel of his palace in Torre.
At the death of Barozzi, which occurred in 1507, Rosex moved to Rome. The Capitoline production is characterized by a renewed interest in the classical world, as evidenced by the prints depicting Apelles, the equestrian statue of Marc'Aurelio and the series of ornamental panels, in which the decoration grotesque is treated as an independent subject. It is likely that the Roman stay was of short duration, since in 1510 Nicoletto is documented at work in the ducal palace of Modena.
The payment in Modena is the last documentary trace that has emerged so far about Rosex, who in any case must have continued to be active at least until the beginning of the third decade of the sixteenth century, according to the date 1522 on the print of S. Rocco salva nos a peste. The activity of the last years, in which it is possible to recognize the knowledge of the engravings of Marcantonio Raimondi and Giulio Campagnola, appears recognizable for the preponderance of the architectural element and for the new centrality of the human figure in the space. Also the engraving sign is characterized by a greater homogeneity and by better shading. This change can be seen, for example, in the prints depicting S. Antonio abate and Pallas Athena, of clear imprint of Bramante, and in the postremi S. Rocco and S. Sebastian, of extraordinary volumetric rendering. (cfr. Gianluca Fruci, Nicoletto Rosex, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 88 (2017).
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Nicoletto ROSEX detto Nicoletto da Modena (Attivo dal 1490 - 1525)
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Active between the end of the fifteenth century and the third decade of the sixteenth century, he was the most prolific of the early Italian engravers. Nonetheless, there is very little biographical information available about him, and even the eulogy drawn by Ludovico Vedriani (Raccolta de' pittori, scultori et architetti modenesi più celebriesi, Modena 1662), the only ancient source to report on the engraver, appears very generic.
After his beginnings in Emilia, where Nicoletto's relations with the culture of Ferrara and with Francesco Francia's workshop in Bologna are clearly visible, the engraver is documented in Padua for about twenty years after 1487. In 1487 and 1493 Rosex appears as a witness in three notarial acts of Padua, while in 1497 he received a payment in his favor from the Massaro dell'Arca del Santo for restoration work carried out in the Basilica of St. Anthony. To the stay in Padua, in which the Modenese had the opportunity to mature, under the influence of the school of Andrea Mantegna, a free and eccentric vision of the ancient, is to be traced the famous engraving depicting Four naked women, known in three copies and signed and dated 1500. In 1506 Rosex obtained his most important task: the bishop of Padua Pietro Barozzi commissioned him the decoration, then lost, of the chapel of his palace in Torre.
At the death of Barozzi, which occurred in 1507, Rosex moved to Rome. The Capitoline production is characterized by a renewed interest in the classical world, as evidenced by the prints depicting Apelles, the equestrian statue of Marc'Aurelio and the series of ornamental panels, in which the decoration grotesque is treated as an independent subject. It is likely that the Roman stay was of short duration, since in 1510 Nicoletto is documented at work in the ducal palace of Modena.
The payment in Modena is the last documentary trace that has emerged so far about Rosex, who in any case must have continued to be active at least until the beginning of the third decade of the sixteenth century, according to the date 1522 on the print of S. Rocco salva nos a peste. The activity of the last years, in which it is possible to recognize the knowledge of the engravings of Marcantonio Raimondi and Giulio Campagnola, appears recognizable for the preponderance of the architectural element and for the new centrality of the human figure in the space. Also the engraving sign is characterized by a greater homogeneity and by better shading. This change can be seen, for example, in the prints depicting S. Antonio abate and Pallas Athena, of clear imprint of Bramante, and in the postremi S. Rocco and S. Sebastian, of extraordinary volumetric rendering. (cfr. Gianluca Fruci, Nicoletto Rosex, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 88 (2017).
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