Madonna and Child in a Landscape

The Virgin and Child holding the Christ Child on her knee, at the left is the infant St John the Baptist and his lamb, set within a landscape with classical ruins.

Etching, circa 1590, signed “P.F.” at the lower left.

Attributed by some scholars to Paolo Farinati and by others to his son Orazio, this magnificent engraving is, more recently, ascribed to the hand of the Farinati’s father: “La stampa si evidenzia nel corpus incisorio dei due Farinati per l'inusitata apertura paesistica e per l'ambientazione di un gruppo, tipico del repertorio figurativo farinatiano, contro uno sfondo di paesaggio con rovine che si rifà invece, palesemente, ai modelli grafici di Dupérac e Cock, mediati nel Veneto di metà Cinquecento dalle numerose riprese acquafortistiche operatene da Giambattista Pittoni o Battista Del Moro. Dillon (1980, p. 280) evidenziava pure le suggestioni veronesiane del tempo degli affreschi di Masèr, dipinti da Paolo Veronese basandosi ampiamente su quelle fonti incisorie nell'esecuzione degli sfondi rovinistici, e ulteriori rapporti con opere del Veronese databili al settimo decennio. A questi riferimenti si sommano influenze di Tiziano, che Farinati poteva conoscere attraverso stampe di traduzione, soprattutto xilografiche, evidenziando per la stampa una sorta di operazione di aggiornamento di un motivo farinatiano con formule paesaggistiche di successo. Puppi ha suggerito invece che la stampa rifletta la composizione di un affresco oggi perduto, dipinto da Paolo nel 1589 su una casa presso la chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria. Il complesso intreccio delle fonti composti-ve si riflette sul problema della paternità della stampa, generalmente ritenuta opera di Orazio, benché vi compaia solamente la caratteristica sigla di Paolo. Oberhuber, seguito da Dillon, non riscontrando sostanziali disomogeneità stilistiche e di segno grafico con le incisioni autografe di Paolo, ha avanzato l'ipotesi di un loro spostamento al catalogo del capobottega, che ci sentiamo di confermare. Sotto il profilo più tecnico, si è notato l'andamento irregolare del profilo superiore dell'immagine, come per effetto dell'elevata pressione in fase di stampa, che ha fatto pensare all'utilizzo per la lastra di un metallo come il peltro, assai meno resistente ai graffi e ai segni dell'usura che si notano infatti numerosi nell'immagine. A conferma del successo di questa tipologia compositiva, l'incisione fu la fonte per alcune copie in controparte, di cui la più celebre si deve alla mano di Jacques Callot” (cfr. Giorgio Marini, in Paolo Farinati 1524-1606. Dipinti, incisioni e disegni per l’architettura, pp.215-216, n. 202).

Although the figures are in the foreground, the shadow behind the tree integrates them into a wider landscape. Despite the snail shell and the monogram that indicates Paolo Farinati as the author of the subject, the composition suggests also other sources. The Virgin, for instance, sitting beneath the tree, showing her classical profile, derives from a lost painting by Titian. Maybe Farinati knew the subject through several contemporary prints, such as Niccolò Boldrini's woodcut, 1540, with the same theme, and Giovanni Francesco Camocio's etching, realized at the end of the XVI century, maybe the closest work to Titian’s original subject. This engraving shows the Virgin and the Child in a landscape teeming with birds and animals, with Joseph in the background saddling the ass in the stable. The same subject might have been realized by Bartolomeo Passarotti as well. Gioconda Albricci underlines that the motif of the seated Madonna can be found also in Paolo Farinati's sketchbook, nowadays kept in the Castello in Milano. The artist combined this figure, deriving from Titian, with the putti that were characteristic of his own style. (Bartsch 9, 10).

Lionello Puppi suggested that Paolo's engraving might have been inspired by the preparatory drawing for a fresco realized in 1589, on the facade of the house of M. Marin, a miller in Vittorio Veneto. Even the alpine view in the background derives from Titian. This impressive landscape, which is unique among the works of Farinati for its width and richness, may come from the woodcut The Holy Family with John the Baptist and Elizabeth, often ascribed to Boldrini. The sacre conversatione is set in a wide landscape combining, arches, ruins covered with vegetation and an alpine lake in the background. The crumbling buildings and the elevated point of view recall the alpine landscapes in the etchings of Hyeronymos Cock. Albricci considers this perspective as a memory of the Lake Garda scenarios, suggesting that the artist might have observed these landscapes directly. Whatever the sources might have been, it is likely that Orazio Farinati added this background to his father's figurative composition to get a more modern effect. The luminosity of the print is remarkable: the farthest borders were obtained with soft and lightly etched lines which gave the effect of the third dimension. The dark tones give the surface a nice energy and create the shimmering effect of the morning light: the sun rises from behind the ruins in the middle ground, its beams spreading through the cracks of the voussoirs of the arch. There are some elements that indicate how Orazio etched on soft metal plates, maybe pewter. The irregular edges on the upper part of the plate do not reflect those of a hard metal plate, meaning resistant to the batterings and the compression of printing, but they rather seem like those of a malleable material, easily scratched as the plate wore. Sometimes the plates were trimmed or smoothed down between each state. This impression bears few scratches, like first states usually did. Another element that can confirm this idea is the pale spot at the Virgin's waist, maybe caused by a drop of varnish or ground. In later states, this passage was remarked by a burin. The few tones left on the plate are the consequence of a perfectly wiped surface; the irregular printing of this example is a consequence of an uneven inking and from the stagnation of moisture on the dampened paper along the trailing edge of the plate while passing through the press.

A very fine impression of this rare work, showing a good contrast and clarity of details, with thin margins, laid down at the reverse edge on antique collector’s paper, a small stain in the center, otherwise in very good conditions.

Bibliografia

Bartsch XVI.170.4; Reed & Wallace, Italian etchers of the Renaissance & Barocque, p. 210, 107; Paolo Farinati 1524-1606. Dipinti, incisioni e disegni per l’architettura, pp.215-216, n. 202.