Wednesday, May 25, 2016

16th-century Prints with Ancient Reliefs and Statues

Marco da Ravenna
Relief of a Nude Man pursuing a Naiad and an Aquatic Cupid into the Water
ca. 1510-27
engraving
British Museum

Marco da Ravenna
Relief of a Satyr with a Sleeping Nymph
ca. 1510-27
engraving
British Museum

Marco da Ravenna
Relief of a Satyr Butting Heads with a Ram
ca. 1510-27
engraving
British Museum

Reliefs copied from sarcophagus panels "tended to depict more generalized or mythological subjects," while the more topical ones from "the great storiated columns, and even those on the damaged triumphal arches" were not readily visible from the ground and tended to be "scattered and fragmented." These were abundantly reproduced and/or invented during the 16th century, providing "details of sacrificial ceremonies, military uniforms, triumphal processions and other matters of the very greatest fascination to artists and antiquarians." The most famous antique statues would be reproduced by name, but hundreds of obscure ones also appeared in prints, challenging later scholars to distinguish between actual depictions and depicted fantasies.

Marco da Ravenna
Relief of the Emperor Trajan with Dacian Captives
ca. 1518-25
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
Marcus Curtius Flinging Himself into the Chasm
1529
engraving
British Museum

Georges Reverdy
Marcus Curtius Flinging Himself into the Chasm
ca. 1529-65
engraving
British Museum

Niccolo Vicentiino after Il Pordenone
Marcus Curtius Flinging Himself into the Chasm
1530
chiaroscuro woodcut
British Museum

Marco da Ravenna
Ancient statue of a young man
ca. 1510-27
engraving
British Museum

Marco da Ravenna
Statue of Faun with Tiger in Niche
ca. 1510-27
engraving
British Museum

Marco da Ravenna
Relief with Putti around the Throne of Neptune
1519
engraving
British Museum

Agostino Veneziano
Nymph with Basket before a Herm of Pan
ca. 1510-27
engraving
British Museum

Agostino Veneziano
Relief of Dancing Fauns and Bacchante
1516
engraving
British Museum

Agostino Veneziano
Frieze with Eros and Siren
1530
engraving
British Museum

Agostino Veneziano
Acanthus Scroll
ca. 1530-35
engraving
British Museum

Quotations are from Taste and the Antique by Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny (Yale University Press, 1981)