Paniere Farnese con Sileno Ebbro

Engraving, 1597 – 1599, at lower centre “Anibal Caracius Invent. F. Villamena. F.” Second final state, with the inscription.

Good example, printed on contemporary laid paper, with “double encircled fleur-de-lys”, margins of about 1 cm, paper fold in the upper left, generally in very good condition.

Long believed to have copied Annibale Carracci's Tazza Farnese, Villamena was probably commission to engrave this composition on a silver plate, later incorporated into the Paniere Farnese, to serve as a companion piece to Carracci's Tazza. The two engraved plates were mounted into a luxury suite of serving vessels, as witnessed by their mention in the Farnese inventory of 1644: 'Una panattiera compagna della sottocopa [i.e. Annibale’s tazza], con le cornini e pieidi dorati'. It is likely that Villamena pulled impressions from the plate before it was mounted into the vessel.

The engraved silver plate, once again detached from its mounting, now survives in the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe of the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples (inv. 802). The silver plaque, probably a copy rather than an original piece from the "Tazza" was rediscovered in 1955. It was apparently used for printmaking, and pulls from it were taken from a fairly early date onward. Carracci produced a number of preparatory drawings for this design: a highly developed one is at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1972.133.4). Two other studies by Annibale for this silver plaque have survived (British Museum, London; and Art Institute of Chicago [formerly in the Ellesmere collection]), and represent earlier stages of the design.