Game of Putti

Engraving, ca. 1528/30, monogrammed in plate at lower left “Ce Re” (or Ge Re).

Bacchanal of putti engraved in the style of Marcantonio Raimondi's engravings, from subjects by Raphael.

This very rare engraving is not described by Bartsch and is not found in any major museum collections. We are not aware of specimens in Vienna, Berlin, London or Italian collections.

It is described by Passavant, in his supplement to Bartsch's catalog. Passavant mentions the specimen in Paris, probably in the Arsenale: “Sept enfants qui jouent. Cinq d'entre eux dansent devant un éditice où un sixième regarde d'une lenêtre, tandis que le septième sonne de la trompette. A la gauche du bas, la signature Ce Re” (cf. Passavant, Le peintre-graveur: Suite des maîtres italiens du XVe. et XVIe. Siècle, p. 113).

The print is also listed in Baudi di Vesme's catalog (no. 42); however, we believe the scholar has never seen a copy and merely reports Passavant's note (erroneously in the monogram he indicates as “GR”).

Giorgio Reverdino (known as Georges Reverdy) was an artist of Italian origin and particularly active in France. A painter and especially a copperplate engraver and xylographer, mistakenly believed to be of Venetian, Paduan, Bolognese, or French origin, he was also called Cesare or Gaspare. Probably born in Piedmont, in Chivasso, he perhaps learned the practice of engraving in Rome, at the workshop of Marcantonio Raimondi. From 1528 to his death, he was active in Lyon, where he left a series of woodcuts for books and engravings with burin, many of them signed or monogrammed, of uneven quality.

Scholars have always been divided on the origin of this particular artist; the fact that Reverdy was originally from Piedmont is certified in the essay by Alessandro Baudi di Vesme, who points out that as early as the Premier volume de la Bibliotheque du sieur de la Croix du Maine, published in Paris in 1584 and dedicated to Henry III, King of France, we read, “Georges Reverdy Piedmontois, excellent graveur au burin.. florissait à Lyon l'an 1555”. Again, Baudi di Vesme points out that Chivasso was the probable city of origin of Reverdy.

In the same style as this composition, Reverdy made a engraving depicting a frieze with dancing putti, which bears the same monogram. Of this engraving, there is a posthumous issue (after his death in 1565) printed in Rome in 1570 by Antonio Lafreri. Although the publisher active in Rome was of French origin, the fact that he was in possession of the plate engraved by Reverdy may indicate that some of the artist's engravings do not relate to the Lyons period (after 1528) but may date from an earlier Roman period.

Magnificent proof, printed on contemporary laid paper without watermark, trimmed to copperplate, in excellent condition.

Very rare work. Unknown collector's mark on verso.

Bibliografia

Johann David Passavant, Le peintre-graveur: Suite des maîtres italiens du XVe. et XVIe. Siècle, p. 113, n. 34; Baudi di Vesme A., Reverdino incisore cinquecentista, Catalogo delle incisioni su Rame, in “Maso Finiguerra”, XV-XVI, 1937, pp. 187-205, e XVIXVII, 1938, pp.122-155, n. 42.