Entellus and Darete

Engraving, 1520/23, inscribed on plate "ENTELLI ET DARET. CESTUUM CERT" and below with the monogram "SR" on a rock at lower right. After Giulio Romano or Baccio Bandinelli.

Example in the second state (of three) with the imprint of Antonio Salamanca (added at the bottom centre Ant. Sal. exc.). Circulation datable to around 1540, when the publisher purchased many plates by the artist from Marco Dente and the school of Marcantonio Raimondi, which were lost during the Sack of Rome in 1527, in which Dente lost his life.

Beautiful proof, printed on contemporary laid paper with watermark "anchor in the circle with star" (cf. Woodward nos. 167-170), with margins, in perfect condition.

Bartsch and following repertories describes this print as after Raphael. Likely derives from the drawing by Giulio Romano inspired by the relief at the Museo Lateranense, later transported to the Museo Pio-Clementino now the Museo Gregoriano Profano (inv. 9502, 9503). According to Konrad Oberhuber, it would instead be a derivation of some nude studies by Baccio Bandinelli. The view of the Colosseum is related to a sketch in the Codex Excurialensis.

The work is described as follows in the catalogue of the Piancastelli Collection (Ravenna, 2008):

The engraving depicts an episode narrated by Virgil in Book V of the Aeneid (vv. 363-484), in which the combat between the Trojan Daretes and the Sicilian Entellus is described, during the games held in memory of Anchises. The old and bearded Entellus succeeded in beating the young Daretes, who was now unrivalled, and, after a tough boxing match, won the prizes offered by Aeneas. In the scene, set with typical anatopism in front of the Colosseum, the two boxers face each other: the older one is seen in front with his arms raised and wrapped in baskets, the younger one, from behind, protects himself from his opponent's blows by raising his left arm, while he holds back his right almost as if to charge him for the assault. The cloaks and fluttering robes of the two give the carving a remarkable dynamic effect. Traditionally, it is believed that the work derives from a drawing by Raphael, who copied an ancient high relief from the classical period, depicting two wrestlers, probably found in the Forum of Trajan, later transferred to the Villa Aldobrandini at the Quirinal from where it was transported to the Pio Clementino Museum in Vaticano in 1812 and is now exhibited in the Museo Gregoriano profano (inv. 9502, 9503). In the engraving, the legs, which are missing in the relief, have been integrated and a precise spatial relationship is created between the figures, which does not exist in the two divided portions of the relief. The old Entellus is represented with much more aggressive facial features and a more muscular body to make him a valid rival for the younger opponent. Passavant hypothesised an attribution of the preparatory drawing to Giulio Romano, later shared by Davis (1988-1989) and Massari (1993), on the basis of a comparison with a group of fighting figures in a medallion in the Sala dei Venti in the Palazzo Te in Mantua, designed by Giulio. However, the structure of the legs, with protruding and muscular calves and the knee joint too small, are elements that do not support an attribution to Raphael and Giulio Romano, who render the movements of the limbs and muscles in a more naturalistic manner, giving the bodies an antique-like appearance. The rendering of the boxers' legs rather recalls some nude studies by Baccio Bandinelli, so much so that Oberhuber considers this artist the possible author of this composition (Oberhuber, Gnann, 1999, p. 286). The scene, as we have said, takes place in front of the Colosseum and this setting, which accentuates the monumentality of the two adversaries, is in all probability due to the initiative of the engraver who may have derived that architectural background from some notebook in the master's workshop and demonstrates the Ravenna artist's adherence to the cultural temperament of humanism at the papal court. In fact, the same view of the Colosseum can be found in the Codex Escurialensis (f. 24v) from which Raphael seems to have copied various architectural drawings, such as the background for the scene of The Massacre of the Innocents (Bartsch, XIV, 18), engraved by both Marcantonio Raimondi and Marco Dente. The wall on which plants grow also returns in the engraving of the Laocoon group by Dente (Bartsch, XIV, 353). In terms of stylistic rendering, the engraving is reminiscent of both the Strage degli innocenti derived from Baccio Bandinelli, dated around 1520, and the Laocoon of 1520-23, in which, however, the figures are rendered with greater plastic effect and bolder foreshortening. Due to the references to the two engravings mentioned and the compositional technique, the depiction of Entellus and Darete is therefore probably datable to around 1520-23 (cf. Marco Dente un incisore ravennate nel segno di Raffaello, p. 70).

Bibliografia

Antonella Imolesi Pozzi, Marco Dente un incisore ravennate nel segno di Raffaello, p. 70, n. 8; Massari, Giulio Romano pinxit et delineavit, n. 37, II/III; Oberhuber Konrad, Gnann Achim, Roma e lo stile classico di Raffaello 1515-1527, 1999, p. 286; Bartsch A. Le Peintre graveur (XIV.159.195); Passavant 1860-64, Le Peintre-Graveur (VI.69.22); Raphael invenit. Stampe da Raffaello nelle collezioni dell'Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica V., pp., nn.: p. 236 num. 1; Le Blanc C., Manuel de L'amateur D'estampes, n. 27; The Illustrated Bartsch, 159, V 0026 p 00192, 1978-1983.