Triumph of the Marine Venus

Reference: S46553
Author Pierre BREBIETTE
Year: 1617 ca.
Measures: 140 x 105 mm
€1,200.00

Reference: S46553
Author Pierre BREBIETTE
Year: 1617 ca.
Measures: 140 x 105 mm
€1,200.00

Description

"The Triumph of the Sea Venus" depicting the mythological sea-born divinity. The goddess is surrounded by her entourage, her son Cupid flying above her.

Etching, ca. 1617/25, signed in plate at bottom.

The work relates to Brebiette's Italian period, 1617-25, as the artist himself states in the plate "In Roma". Brebiette's lively and imaginative engraving style is particularly effective in this print of his own invention.

The mythological figures are portrayed with a deft and animated engraving style that makes the protagonists appear closer to reality than to divinity. Brebiette's considerable talent for satire and imaginative detail is evident; the whole is imbued with the originality of the artist's invention and his characteristic stylistic idiom.

Relatively little is known about Pierre Brebiette's early life and artistic formation. By January 1617 he was living in Rome, where he remained until 1625. In Italy Brebiette was closely associated with the painter-etcher Claude Vignon and the print publisher and paintings dealer Francois Langlois, called Ciartres; they remained friends for life. Although one painting has been identified, Brebiette was primarily a graphic artist, and a number of fine drawings and nearly 300 prints by him are known. His etched oeuvre includes genre, mythological, and religious subjects. Brebiette was likely to have been introduced to etching in Rome; his work reflects the style and techniques of Italian etchers there: Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), Orazio Borgianni (about 1578-1616), and Ottavio Leoni (1578-1630). In Italy some of Brebiette's prints reproduced paintings by such Renaissance masters as Andrea del Sarto and Paolo Veronese, and more recent Roman painters including Cesare d'Arpino.

Beautiful impression, printed on contemporary laid paper with small margins, in very good condition.

Collection mark on verso of Agostino Caironi (Lugt no. 426).

Bibliografia

Le Blanc, Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes, contenant un dictionnaire des graveurs de toutes les nations: ouvrage destiné à faire suite au Manuel du libraire par J.Ch. Brunet, dl. 1, p. 513, n. 65; Inventaire du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes (92).

Pierre BREBIETTE (Nantes 1598 – Roma 1650 circa)

Relatively little is known about Pierre Brebiette's early life and artistic formation. His father was a clerk of the court in the jurisdiction of Varennes near Brie-Comte-Robert, and the artist owned property in Coulommiers. He could have learned from observing the ongoing decoration of the palace of Fontainebleau. By January 1617 he was living in Rome, where he remained until 1625. In Italy Brebiette was closely associated with the painter-etcher Claude Vignon and the print publisher and paintings dealer Francois Langlois, called Ciartres; they remained friends for life. He was married in Paris in January 1626 to Louise, the daughter of the poet Louis de Neufgermain, whose patron was Gaston d'Orleans, younger brother of Louis XIII. Vignon witnessed the marriage, became a godparent to their son in 1631, and helped to value Brebiette's artistic estate at the time of his death in 1650. Although one painting has been identified, Brebiette was primarily a graphic artist, and a number of fine drawings and nearly 300 prints by him are known. His etched oeuvre includes genre, mythological, and religious subjects. Brebiette was likely to have been introduced to etching in Rome; his work reflects the style and techniques of Italian etchers there: Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), Orazio Borgianni (about 1578-1616), and Ottavio Leoni (1578-1630). In Italy some of Brebiette's prints reproduced paintings by such Renaissance masters as Andrea del Sarto and Paolo Veronese, and more recent Roman painters including Cesare d'Arpino. Others developed themes derived from ancient pagan subjects. By 1624 he had mastered the medium, and after his return to Paris he was in demand as an etcher, receiving commissions for religious subjects and book illustrations. Few of Brebiette's prints bear dates; they range from 1624 to 1640. The majority were designed and executed in a spirited personal style that combines mannerist grace with Northern realism an whismsical humor. Since he was one of the early seventeenth century's most original printmakers, it is surprising that no catalogue raisonné of Brebiette's has been published.

Pierre BREBIETTE (Nantes 1598 – Roma 1650 circa)

Relatively little is known about Pierre Brebiette's early life and artistic formation. His father was a clerk of the court in the jurisdiction of Varennes near Brie-Comte-Robert, and the artist owned property in Coulommiers. He could have learned from observing the ongoing decoration of the palace of Fontainebleau. By January 1617 he was living in Rome, where he remained until 1625. In Italy Brebiette was closely associated with the painter-etcher Claude Vignon and the print publisher and paintings dealer Francois Langlois, called Ciartres; they remained friends for life. He was married in Paris in January 1626 to Louise, the daughter of the poet Louis de Neufgermain, whose patron was Gaston d'Orleans, younger brother of Louis XIII. Vignon witnessed the marriage, became a godparent to their son in 1631, and helped to value Brebiette's artistic estate at the time of his death in 1650. Although one painting has been identified, Brebiette was primarily a graphic artist, and a number of fine drawings and nearly 300 prints by him are known. His etched oeuvre includes genre, mythological, and religious subjects. Brebiette was likely to have been introduced to etching in Rome; his work reflects the style and techniques of Italian etchers there: Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), Orazio Borgianni (about 1578-1616), and Ottavio Leoni (1578-1630). In Italy some of Brebiette's prints reproduced paintings by such Renaissance masters as Andrea del Sarto and Paolo Veronese, and more recent Roman painters including Cesare d'Arpino. Others developed themes derived from ancient pagan subjects. By 1624 he had mastered the medium, and after his return to Paris he was in demand as an etcher, receiving commissions for religious subjects and book illustrations. Few of Brebiette's prints bear dates; they range from 1624 to 1640. The majority were designed and executed in a spirited personal style that combines mannerist grace with Northern realism an whismsical humor. Since he was one of the early seventeenth century's most original printmakers, it is surprising that no catalogue raisonné of Brebiette's has been published.