The Triumph of Fame

The Triumph of Fame; the winged figure of Fame blowing two trumpets standing on two elephants at left; the procession with Roman soldiers leading captives through ancient Roman ruins, including the pyramid of Cestius at far left and the head of Constantine and the large Capitoline foot fragment in left foreground. Some architectural constructions, a recollection of Rome and Tivoli, can be seen in the background.

Engraving, 1539 circa, signed with monogram at upper centre and lettered there: 'FAMA PEREMUS ERIT QUAM NEC TONIS IRA NEC IGNES/ NEC POTERIT EERRUM NEC EDAX ABOLERE VETUSTAS'.

From the set “Petrarch’s triumphs”. Example in the third state of four.

The Trionfi is an allegorical poem in Italian vernacular tercets written by Francesco Petrarch, and divided into twelve chapters grouped into six Triumphi, each dedicated to a vision obtained by the poet in a dream. Thus there is a succession of six Triumphs: Love, Modesty, Death, Fame, Time and Eternity. In the Triumph of Fame (Triumphus Fame) Fame leads with her a procession of personages famous for deeds (divided into Roman, foreign and modern, in a manner analogous to the Rerum memorandarum libri) or works of ingenuity, who are assured survival beyond death.

Shortly before 1520, some young artists in Albercht Dürer's circle took to making very small engravings that challenged the viewer with a miniature world of new secular subject matter and unconventional interpretations of traditional themes. Because of the small size of their engravings, these artists have long been affixed with the collective, and unflattering, name of Small Nuremberg Masters. The core of the group consists of three artists from Nuremberg, Hans Sebald & Bartel Beham and Georg Pencz, and in addition Jacob Bink from Cologne and Heinrich Aldegrever from Soest.

Georg Pencz (c. 1500 – 11 October 1550) was a German engraver, painter and printmaker. He travelled to Nuremberg in 1523 and joined Albrecht Dürer’s atelier. Like Dürer, he visited Italy and was profoundly influenced by Venetian art; it is believed he worked with Marcantonio Raimondi. In 1525, he was imprisoned with the brothers Barthel Beham and Hans Sebald Beham, the so-called "godless painters", for spreading the radical views of Thomas Müntzer. The three were pardoned shortly afterwards and became part of the group known as the "Little Masters" because of their tiny, intricate, and influential prints. Around 1539, Pencz briefly returned to Italy, visiting Rome for the first time, returning to Nuremberg in 1540, where he became the city painter and earned his greatest success as a portraitist. As an engraver, he ranks among the best of the German “Little Masters”. Notable prints include Six Triumphs of Petrarch and Life of Christ (26 plates).

Excellent work, rich in shades, printed on contemporary laid paper without watermark, trimmed to platemark, in excellent condition.

Ex collezione Albert Camesina (Lugt 88).

Bibliografia

Landau 1978, Catalogo completo dell'opera grafica di Georg Pencz (118); Hollstein, German engravings, etchings and woodcuts c.1400-1700 (99.IV); Bartsch; Le Peintre graveur (VIII.357.119).