- New
Hercules and Achelous
| Reference: | S49662 |
| Author | Giovanni Andrea VAVASSORE |
| Year: | 1506 ca. |
| Measures: | 195 x 280 mm |
€1,100.00
- New
| Reference: | S49662 |
| Author | Giovanni Andrea VAVASSORE |
| Year: | 1506 ca. |
| Measures: | 195 x 280 mm |
€1,100.00
Description
In the upper cartouche: Hercol io son che in Calidonia andai / Et presi pugna con Acheleo possente / Prima como horr il suo furor provai / Ma pur soe force con la vita spente /Serpe diveni ma tormenti et guai / Alhor ol baston virente / Se fepoi thoro ma ligato forte / Stretto lo teni per donarli morte.
Woodcut, ca. 1506, unsigned. From the series Stories of Hercules.
The print is part of a series of 10 compositions (but there were originally supposed to be 12) made by Giovanni Andrea Vavassore known as Guadagnino, as also indicated in the tablet visible in the last episode of the series (The Death and Apotheosis of Hercules). A woodblock by Vavassore is preserved in the Estense Galleries of Modena [inv. 6463 (ex I.V.196)] shows two compositions arranged side by side: on the left the composition relating to the Birth of Hercules, on the right Hercules and the Nemean Lion.
The verses, which appear in each episode of the series, summarize the episode depicted, in the form of the protagonist's narrative (in fact, they always begin with “I” i.e. Hercules). Vavassore had conceived the episodes and drafted these octaves evidently by training himself on the sources related to the hero's iconography: Ovid, Diodorus Siculus, Apollodorus etc. The compositions of each plate are very synthetic and present multiple actions. A similar 'synthesis' is found in the illustrations of Ovid's Metamorphoseos Vulgare by Giovani Bonsignori, published in Venice at Lucantonio Giunta in 1497.
The woodcuts carved by Vavassore show in some cases the juxtaposition of action and the result of it, or of successive actions such as the stages of a character's transformation, like Acheloo, or of the four moments of the Death and Apotheosis of Hercules. A series of drawings with Albrecht Dürer's monogram and date 1511, circular in format was preserved in Bremen, Kunsthalle, but was lost with the war. These drawings served for some goldsmith work, and were also later inspiration for the figurations of the stone-carved reliefs in the Landshut Residence. The relationship between these Dürer drawings, certainly significant and decisive in some of the poses of the characters, and the Vavassore prints, remains to be defined.
The only complete set of impressions of the episodes is the one preserved in Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett [inv. 469/478-38]. The peculiarity of this example (and the other four in our hands) is that it bears a “stamp” at the bottom with the letters MG and the date 1550. This inscription - later and not by Vavassore's hand - is not carved in the woodblock but imprinted with typographic characters.
Giovanni Andrea Vavassore known as Guadagnino was active in Venice as a bookseller, publisher, typographer, and wood engraver. He began his work as a xylographer between 1505 and 1515, often working for Niccolò Zoppino's editions and signing his woodcuts with the monogram “ZAV.” Between 1530 and 1572 were published under the name of G.A. V. at least two hundred and thirty prints, most of them, as many as one hundred and eighty-two, in the vernacular. In the course of his publishing activity, Vavassore used a heart surmounted by a double cross and the initials ZAV as his mark, and made use mainly of the printing presses of Giovanni Griffio the Elder and Giacomo Piccaglia. After 1572 the business passed to his heirs who continued Vavassore's work under the banner of the Hippogriff until 1587.
Good impression, comparable to others in museum collections, printed on 16th-century laid paper without watermark, complete with marginal line, in excellent condition. Very rare work known for the Berlin example; only one other impression of this episode is known, preserved in the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma.
For more on the series look at L. Aldovini, Atlante delle xilografie italiane del Rinascimento
https://archivi.cini.it/storiaarte/detail/24003/matrice-24003.html
Bibliografia
I legni incisi della Galleria Estense. Quattro secoli di stampa nell'Italia Settentrionale, Modena, 1986, pp. 82-83 sotto n. 227 (M. Goldoni); Scaglia G., "Les Travaux d'Hercule de Giovanni Andrea Vavassore reproduits dans les frises de Vélez Blanco", in Revue de l'art, 2000, 127, pp. 22-31, pp. 22-31.
Giovanni Andrea VAVASSORE (attivo a Venezia tra il 1510 e il 1572)
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Giovanni Andrea Vavassore known as Guadagnino was active in Venice as a bookseller, publisher, typographer, and wood engraver. He began his work as a xylographer between 1505 and 1515, often working for Niccolò Zoppino's editions and signing his woodcuts with the monogram “ZAV.” His engravings have often been confused with those of at least three of his contemporary artists: Mantuan-born Zoan Andrea, who copied many works by Mantegna; Zoan Andrea now known as “the artist of the Apocalypse”; and the engraver who signed himself “I. A.,” an illustrator of almost exclusively religious works. In 1530 Vavassore appeared to be enrolled in a fraternity of painters that counted among its members draughtsmen, indorsers, writers, stationers, illuminators, dyers, and carvers; in this list he is recorded as “Vadagnin Zuan” Andrea without specific qualifications. Also in the same year his first subscribed editions appeared and almost immediately he became associated with the brothers Florio and Luigi. Between 1530 and 1572 were published under the name of G.A. V. at least two hundred and thirty prints, most of them, as many as one hundred and eighty-two, in the vernacular. In the course of his publishing activity, Vavassore used a heart surmounted by a double cross and the initials ZAV as his mark, and made use mainly of the printing presses of Giovanni Griffio the Elder and Giacomo Piccaglia. After 1572 the business passed to his heirs who continued Vavassore's work under the banner of the Hippogriff until 1587. It is difficult to fix the beginnings of Valvassore’s geographic subjects, for about half his maps—nine out of nineteen—are undated. But in about 1515 he issued a colored woodcut of the battle of Marignano, more than fifteen years before his next dated map, a map of Spain. Vavassore’s maps are extremely rare: none survives in more than four impressions.
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Giovanni Andrea VAVASSORE (attivo a Venezia tra il 1510 e il 1572)
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Giovanni Andrea Vavassore known as Guadagnino was active in Venice as a bookseller, publisher, typographer, and wood engraver. He began his work as a xylographer between 1505 and 1515, often working for Niccolò Zoppino's editions and signing his woodcuts with the monogram “ZAV.” His engravings have often been confused with those of at least three of his contemporary artists: Mantuan-born Zoan Andrea, who copied many works by Mantegna; Zoan Andrea now known as “the artist of the Apocalypse”; and the engraver who signed himself “I. A.,” an illustrator of almost exclusively religious works. In 1530 Vavassore appeared to be enrolled in a fraternity of painters that counted among its members draughtsmen, indorsers, writers, stationers, illuminators, dyers, and carvers; in this list he is recorded as “Vadagnin Zuan” Andrea without specific qualifications. Also in the same year his first subscribed editions appeared and almost immediately he became associated with the brothers Florio and Luigi. Between 1530 and 1572 were published under the name of G.A. V. at least two hundred and thirty prints, most of them, as many as one hundred and eighty-two, in the vernacular. In the course of his publishing activity, Vavassore used a heart surmounted by a double cross and the initials ZAV as his mark, and made use mainly of the printing presses of Giovanni Griffio the Elder and Giacomo Piccaglia. After 1572 the business passed to his heirs who continued Vavassore's work under the banner of the Hippogriff until 1587. It is difficult to fix the beginnings of Valvassore’s geographic subjects, for about half his maps—nine out of nineteen—are undated. But in about 1515 he issued a colored woodcut of the battle of Marignano, more than fifteen years before his next dated map, a map of Spain. Vavassore’s maps are extremely rare: none survives in more than four impressions.
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