Madonna with Child and angels

  • New
Reference: S46552
Author Agostino De MUSI detto "Agostino Veneziano"
Year: 1518
Measures: 170 x 250 mm
€1,500.00

  • New
Reference: S46552
Author Agostino De MUSI detto "Agostino Veneziano"
Year: 1518
Measures: 170 x 250 mm
€1,500.00

Description

Virgin and Child with the infant St John the Baptist and two angels.

Engraving, 1516/18, signed on the upper right '1518 AV'.

From a design ascribed to Francesco Francia.

A fine impression of the completed second state, with the date altered from 1516 to 1518.

This piece is a repeat of a print by the same artist without date (B. 50). Bartsch believes Francia to be the author of the first design. In this second piece, better executed and later, he makes several changes. These differences lead us to believe that this print was engraved on another drawing. The mark A. V. surmounted by the year 1518 is at the top right of the sheet. There is a copy, in the same direction, engraved by an anonymous artist and a counterpart copy engraved by an unskilled anonymous (Bartsch).

Agostino de Musi, known as Agostino Veneziano, was born in the Veneto, possibly in Venice, around 1490, a period set approximately by scholars based on the earliest dates engraved on some prints. He went to Rome in 1515/16, where he entered into a relationship with Marcantonio Raimondi, becoming, along with Marco Dente, one of his principal pupil and later collaborators in the Raimondi “firm,” the first real artistic-commercial enterprise engaged in the reproduction of Raphaelesque subjects. A period, until 1520, of intense activity in Marcantonio's workshop was probably followed by more difficult years due to Raphael's death in 1520 and the imprisonment of Raimondi himself around 1523-24 for engraving some lascivious subjects.

The Sack of Rome in 1527 prompted De Musi to leave the city, heading for Mantua, attracted by Giulio Romano. The collaboration with Giulio coincided with a period characterized by high artistic achievements and intense production, dating from the years 1530-1532.

Agostino's engraving production is very large and numerically consistent, especially when compared to the short time span in which it was produced, roughly between 1514 and 1536. To the 139 engravings reported by Bartsch must be added the new 4 cited by Passavant and the 8 reported by Heinecken: these are all signed or monogrammed engravings, sometimes consisting of normal letters, sometimes of Gothic characters; to these works must also be added a group of about 60 anonymous enrgavings of probable or doubtful attribution.

A fine, early, impression on contemporary laid paper with unidentified watermark, trimmed to the platemark, good condition.

Bibliografia

Bartsch, Le Peintre graveur, 1813, XIV, p. 56, n° 51-II; Passavant, n° 19.

Agostino De MUSI detto "Agostino Veneziano" (Venezia 1490 circa - Roma dopo il 1536)

Agostino de Musi, known as Agostino Veneziano, was born in the Veneto, perhaps in Venice, around 1490, a period roughly fixed by scholars on the basis of the earliest dates engraved on some prints: 1516 in Jesus Descends to Limbo (Le Blanc, III, no. 19), 1514 in The Astrologer [Bartsch, XIV, no. 411) and The Last Supper (B., no. 25). Very little, fragmentary and imprecise information has come down to us about De Musi; today the only data for reconstructing, even if roughly, a biography of De Musi are those obtained from his engravings, which generally marked his prints with the monogram “A. V.” (Agostino Veneziano), inherent to his name and place of birth, Veneto. Until 1515 De Musi remained in the Veneto, perhaps in Venice, where he received his early artistic training, taking G. Campagnola and A. Dürer as models. In 1515 he moved to Florence, according to what is documented by four engravings bearing this date and derived from subjects by Baccio Bandinelli (Diogenes, B. 197, Man Seated by a Book, B. 454, Apollo and Daphne, B. 317, Cleopatra, B. 193). His Florentine sojourn must have been brief, perhaps only a stage in a journey undertaken to Rome, where he entered into a relationship with Marcantonio Raimondi, becoming, along with Marco Dente, one of his principal standard bearers and later collaborators in the Raimondi “firm,” the first real artistic-commercial enterprise engaged in the reproduction of Raphaelesque subjects. A period, until 1520, of intense activity in Marcantonio's workshop was probably followed by more difficult years due to Raphael's death in 1520 and the imprisonment of Raimondi himself around 1523-24 for engraving some lascivious subjects. The engravings reveal only a certain slowdown in production and sometimes a decline in quality. The sack of Rome in 1527 prompted De Musi to leave the city, heading for Mantua, attracted by Giulio Romano. Thereafter De Musi probably returned to Rome, where his last activity seems to have taken place, but it is difficult to establish exactly the year of this move. The last date that appears on his works is 1536, and between 1536 and 1540 his death is generally fixed. De Musi's engraving production is very large and numerically consistent, especially when compared to the short time span in which it was produced, roughly between 1514 and 1536. To the 139 engravings reported by Bartsch must be added the new 4 quoted by Passavant and the 8 reported by Heinecken: these are all engravings signed or marked by the monogram, sometimes consisting of normal letters, sometimes of Gothic characters; to these works must also be added a group of about 60 anonymous engravings of probable or doubtful attribution and 52 plates and the frontispiece of the volume Inlustrium virorum ut extant in Urbe..., Rome 1569.

Agostino De MUSI detto "Agostino Veneziano" (Venezia 1490 circa - Roma dopo il 1536)

Agostino de Musi, known as Agostino Veneziano, was born in the Veneto, perhaps in Venice, around 1490, a period roughly fixed by scholars on the basis of the earliest dates engraved on some prints: 1516 in Jesus Descends to Limbo (Le Blanc, III, no. 19), 1514 in The Astrologer [Bartsch, XIV, no. 411) and The Last Supper (B., no. 25). Very little, fragmentary and imprecise information has come down to us about De Musi; today the only data for reconstructing, even if roughly, a biography of De Musi are those obtained from his engravings, which generally marked his prints with the monogram “A. V.” (Agostino Veneziano), inherent to his name and place of birth, Veneto. Until 1515 De Musi remained in the Veneto, perhaps in Venice, where he received his early artistic training, taking G. Campagnola and A. Dürer as models. In 1515 he moved to Florence, according to what is documented by four engravings bearing this date and derived from subjects by Baccio Bandinelli (Diogenes, B. 197, Man Seated by a Book, B. 454, Apollo and Daphne, B. 317, Cleopatra, B. 193). His Florentine sojourn must have been brief, perhaps only a stage in a journey undertaken to Rome, where he entered into a relationship with Marcantonio Raimondi, becoming, along with Marco Dente, one of his principal standard bearers and later collaborators in the Raimondi “firm,” the first real artistic-commercial enterprise engaged in the reproduction of Raphaelesque subjects. A period, until 1520, of intense activity in Marcantonio's workshop was probably followed by more difficult years due to Raphael's death in 1520 and the imprisonment of Raimondi himself around 1523-24 for engraving some lascivious subjects. The engravings reveal only a certain slowdown in production and sometimes a decline in quality. The sack of Rome in 1527 prompted De Musi to leave the city, heading for Mantua, attracted by Giulio Romano. Thereafter De Musi probably returned to Rome, where his last activity seems to have taken place, but it is difficult to establish exactly the year of this move. The last date that appears on his works is 1536, and between 1536 and 1540 his death is generally fixed. De Musi's engraving production is very large and numerically consistent, especially when compared to the short time span in which it was produced, roughly between 1514 and 1536. To the 139 engravings reported by Bartsch must be added the new 4 quoted by Passavant and the 8 reported by Heinecken: these are all engravings signed or marked by the monogram, sometimes consisting of normal letters, sometimes of Gothic characters; to these works must also be added a group of about 60 anonymous engravings of probable or doubtful attribution and 52 plates and the frontispiece of the volume Inlustrium virorum ut extant in Urbe..., Rome 1569.