jon 0 ect - — oa AN Ee SA SC ET LE ES EE te s g ys ere en TE STS ON re i on SE OT SE EI te LE CS ET IS We a ey ek x ig ri CATALOGUE OF ENGRAVINGS IN THE PRINT ROOM OF THOMAS FORTUNE RYAN Eee Ug i's, te ee Br ee af oy ft a ye f ie | i " ) 4 ty ment wT Be tay : i ¢ vd , r YO «. | ORI meruwane 7 z CATALOGUE OF ENGRAVINGS IN THE PRINT ROOM OF THOMAS FORTUNE RYAN COMPILED BY FITZROY CARRINGTON, A.M. 858 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 1928 ue ee a ae te yan we Ph hie - = ; aa. Sie jo crema iy Bet 9 OE ee fos itt adie ape ee ere a4 Ps Riad LIST OF ENGRAVERS REPRESENTED IN THE COLLECTION BENOIT AUDRAN, THE ELDER FRANCESCO BARTOLOZZI MAURICE BLOT JACQUES COUCHE JEAN DAULLE NICOLAS DELAUNAY AUGUSTE BOUCHER-DESNOYERS LOUIS DESPLACES PIERRE DREVET PIERRE-IMBERT DREVET GERARD EDELINCK FRANCOIS FORSTER HENDRIK GOLTZIUS ISIDOR STANISLAS HELMAN DESIRE ACHILLE LEFEVRE JOHANN AUGUST EDUARD MANDEL ANTOINE MASSON RAPHAEL MORGHEN JOHANN GOTTHARD VON MULLER ROBERT NANTEUIL ANTONIO PERFETTI GEORG FRIEDRICH SCHMIDT SIR ROBERT STRANGE PAOLO TOSCHI CORNELIS VISSCHER JOHANN GEORG WILLE i arty ot vex vai see > Pid = «Nae i 4 eF524 “a , gs» hie ahr gh ‘ . hot 4 oe : ; ying aes S ; : i aguas ns “ _ * R 7 vie is - 2, ~ = a —— a: i CATALOGUE BENOIT AUDRAN, THE ELDER 1661-1721 Tue second son of Germain Audran. Born at Lyons 1661. He received his first instruction in engraving from his father, but had afterwards the advantage of studying under his uncle, the celebrated Gérard Audran. His style like that of Gérard, is bold and clear; his drawing of the figure is very correct; and there is a fine expression of character in his heads. He was received into the Academy in 1709, and was appointed Engraver to the King, with a pension. He died in 1721, in the village of Ouzouer, near Lens. 1 JEAN Baptiste COLBERT After Claude Lefebvre In 1663 Lefebvre was received a member of the Acad- emy, on which occasion he painted the portrait of Colbert engraved by Audran. Colbert was born at Rheims, August 29, 1619. Died at Paris, September 6, 1683. He entered the service of Cardinal Mazarin in 1648, and rose to be Inten- dant. Upon the death of the Cardinal in 1661, Col- bert was appointed by Louis XIV Minister of Fi- nance, a position which he held until his death. As Colbert was thoroughly expert in all the branches of the government and particularly in the depart- ment of finance, he became a man absolutely neces- sary in the condition of confusion which Cardinal Mazarin, Superintendent Fouquet, and still more, the misfortunes of the time had placed the resources of the country. Louis XIV caused Colbert to work secretly with himself with a view to getting a clearer [7] idea of the condition of affairs. Colbert, in conjunc- tion with Le Tellier, then Secretary of State, ruined Fouquet; but he was justified by the improvements which he made in the finances of the kingdom. He became Controller General in 1664. FRANCESCO BARTOLOZZI 1725-1815 Tue son of a goldsmith of Florence, where he was born in 1725. He was instructed in drawing by Ferretti at Florence, and learned the art of engraving from Joseph Wagner at Venice. His first productions were some plates after Marco Maricci, Zuccarelli and others, engraved whilst he was in the employment of Wagner. But the theatre destined for the display of his talents was England, where he arrived in 1764. Soon after he was appointed Engraver to the King, with a salary of £300 a year, and in 1768 he was made a Royal Academician. Few artists have reached so distin- guished a rank in their profession as Bartolozzi, and that in every species of engraving. His etchings, in imitation of the drawings of the most eminent painters, admirably represented the spirit of the originals. In 1802 Bartolozzi accepted the post of Director of the National Academy of Lisbon, where he died in 1815. 2 WiLi1AM Murray First Eart oF MAns- FIELD After Sir Joshua Reynolds Tuer 1782 Proof before name of personage; with coat of arms, names of painter and engraver and the publication line. [8] ‘ Born at Scone, 1705; fourth son of Lord Stormont; educated at Westminster and Oxford; called to the Bar, 1731; Solicitor-General and M.P.., 1743; Attor- ney-General, 1754; Lord Chief Justice of England and Baron Mansfield, 1756; created an Earl, 1776. Died, 1793, aged 88. 3 Tue Ricut Honorasre Witriam Pitt After Gainsborough Dupont Tuer 1867 Born at Hayes, Co. Kent, 28th May, 1769; second son of the Earl of Chatham, who foresaw his future greatness; M.P. for Appleby, 1781; Chancellor of the Exchequer the following year; and Premier from the close of 1783 to the commencement of 1801; again, from May, 1804 to his death, on 23rd January, 1836. MAURICE BLOT 1753-1818 “In the Louis XVI period there are a number of engravers who may be compared to the Watteau engravers of the Louis XV. Maurice Biot may be mentioned among these men. He engraved but one important portrait: The Dauphin and Madame Royale, after Mme. Vigée-Lebrun.”’ T. H. Toomas 4 Monsizur Le DAupPHIN ET MADAME, FinuE pu Roi After Mme. Vigée Le Brun Portalis and Béraldi 5 [9] JACQUES COUCHE 1759-* Born at Abbeville. A pupil of LeVasseur and Aliamet, and subsequently appointed engraver to the Ducd’Orleans. The date of his death is not known. 5 Les Sasots After Lavreince Béraldi 1 6 La Coquette Fix#E After Fragonard Béraldi 4 Proof before the dedication Etched by Couché, finished in line-engraving by Dam- brun. JEAN DAULLE 1703-1763 ‘*Lixe Pierre Drevet, Dauti& owed his success to Rigaud . .. . Daullé’s real start came when he came into the no- tice of Rigaud. Rigaud had become dissatisfied with the Drevets, and took up Daullé in their place. He supervised his work, gave him plates to engrave, and in 1737 succeeded in having his new protégé elected an Agréé to the Acad- émie.”’ T. H. Toomas 7 CLauDE DesHAvEs GENDRON After Hyacinthe Rigaud Deligniéres 24 Andresen 28 Béraldi 61 Proof before all letters. First edition, before the word Nav to the right A famous oculist of his time. [ 10 ] ““Trés-belle gravure, harmonieuse de tons, d’un effet réellement artistique; la figure, qui se détache bien, est modelée avec une finesse et une perfection re- marquables; le velours du manteau et de la toque est parfaitement rendu. C’est bien 1a certainement un fe. 39 des meilleurs portraits gravés par Daullé. Henri BERALp1 8 CATHERINE MIGNARD COMTESSE DE FEUQUIERE After Pierre Mignard Béraldi 57 Daughter of the painter, Pierre Mignard, whose por- trait is seen at the left. “The portrait of Mignard’s daughter was finished in 1735 and was recognized as a chef-d’ceuvre even by Daullé’s contemporaries in engraving, such as Gau- cher, who admitted that the resemblance of the two heads, the sentiment, the purity, the grace, the har- mony, and the technique were all admirable. And indeed one must admit that this print was a good augury for the future of the engraver, and that he had, almost at his first attempt, arrived at a degree of perfection which he could hardly surpass."’ Baron Rocer PorTALIs NICOLAS DELAUNAY 1739-1792 ‘‘Born in Paris, 1739, DELAuNay became at an early age the pupil of Lampereur and from the year 1770 until his death in 1792 he occupied a place among engravers second to none. In his work we find an almost incredible perfec- tion of technique; the charm of his engravings is irresisti- ble, all that was delicate and refined in the period is here [11] set down, and no trace of aught that is not light and care- less is discernible in the charming frivolity of his expres- bd 9? sion. LAWRENCE AND DIGHTON “An expert in the command of light, Delaunay was also a singularly even engraver, and one always displaying con- scientiousness of treatment combined with great facility of execution. For him difficulties did not exist, as may be realized from an examination of his treatment of many a scene which, at first sight having the appearance of sim- plicity itself, is really the result of careful and masterly execution. , “Delaunay has left many admirable renderings of the work of Baudouin and Lavreince. Le Carquois épuisé, is a veritable masterpiece. La Consolation de l’Absence bears fur- ther testimony to this engraver's talent.”’ R sr pq Nevin g Le CuiFFrRE D'AMOUR After Honoré Fragonard Béraldi 9 First State Proof before all letters 10 La CONSOLATION DE L’ ABSENCE After Lavreince Béraldi 24 ‘Four of his engravings are among the finest of the whole period, and they are all after Lavreince—Le Billet Doux, La Consolation de L’ Absence, L’ Heureux Moment, and Qu’en dit I’ Abbe. In these four prints technique has said the last word, the drawing in all its details is exquisite, and their charm must be irre- sistible even to those—and there are many—who deny anything of real value to the whole of this 9° school. LAWRENCE AND DicHTON [12] AUGUSTE GASPARD LOUIS BOUCHER-DESNOYERS 1779-1857 One of the most eminent of modern French engravers. Born in Paris in 1779. Died there in 1857. He appears to the best advantage in his transcripts of the works of the ancient masters, especially Raphael, whose characteristics he renders with the greatest truth and skill. His masterpieces are the Belle Jardinitre of Raphael and the Vierge aux Rochers of Leonardo da Vinci. ““AuGust BoucuEr-DesNoYErs(1779-1857,) is best known as the engraver of Raphael’s Madonnas. Both his engraved works and his writings show that the ‘divine painter’ was constantly in his thoughts and that he made a profound study of drawing to qualify him to the great undertaking which extended over the entire fruitful period of his career.”’ Wixuis O. CHAPIN 1z La VierGe#, piTE La BELLE JARDINIERE After Raphael Béraldi 3 Open letter proof. 12 La VizERGE AUX ROCHERS After Leonardo da Vinci Béraldi 18 Open letter proof, with the stamp of two antique heads. “Une des plus belles planches de Desnoyers. Les pre- mieres épreuves avec la lettre portent le cachet aux deux tétes. Henri BéRALDI [ 13 } LOUIS DESPLACES 1682-1739 13 MarGuERITE BécAILLE, WiDow oF Max- IMILIEN LTITON After Nicolas Largilliére ““Desplaces nous a laissé quelques specimens de por- traits qui montrent qu "il aurait remarquablement réussi en ce genre s'il s’en était davantage préoccupé. Son portrait de Marguerite Bécaille, Veuve Titond’ apres Largilliére, est fort beau.” HENRI Beat PIERRE DREVET 1663-1738 Born at Loire, 1663; died at Paris, 1738. He studied first under Germain Audran at Lyons, and later removed to Paris, where he received instruction from Gérard Audran. In 1696 he was appointed Engraver to the King, and in 1707 was made an Academician. His portraits are well drawn and very highly finished. His representation of dra- peries, lace, silks, ermine, carved wood, and all other ac- cessories and redundancies, is as near perfection as any engtaver ever attained. Yet all these are carefully subor- dinated to the features, which are engraved with great delicacy and minuteness. ‘As Edelinck passed from the scene, the family of Dr- veET appeared. . . . Less clear and simple than Nanteuil, and less severe than Edelinck, Przrre Drevet and his son PrERRE-IMBERT DreveET, gave to the face individuality of character and made their works conspicuous in art. If there was excess in the accessories, it was before the age of Sar- [14 } tor Resartus, and they only followed the prevailing style in the popular paintings of Hyacinthe Rigaud. Art in all its forms had become florid, if not meretricious, and the Drevets were representative of their age. Among their works are important masterpieces.”’ CHARLES SUMNER 14 JEAN-Paut BIGNoN After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 22 Second State of five, before the plate was reworked, making the personage older, and with the words Anno Aetatis 45. 15 Puitippe V, Kinc oF SPAIN After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 41 First State, before the name and address of Bligny and before the supplementary plate below. The painting, by Hyacinthe Rigaud, was executed by order of Louis XIV a few days before the departure of Philippe for Spain, and is now in the Louvre. 16 ANDRE-HERCULE DE FLEURY After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 48 Third State, with the date 1730 Cardinal, Minister of State. 17 Louis pE France, Duc DE BouRGOGNE After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 57 Third State, with the name of the personage The costume and accessories were composed by Ri- gaud in 1706 especially for this engraving. [15 } 18 Lou1ts-ALEXANDRE DE BourBON, COMTE DE TOULOUSE, DUC DE DAMVILLE After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 64 First State, with two anchors behind the coat of arms Admiral of France; legitimatized son of Louis XIV and the Marquise de Montespan. 19 Lovis-ALEXANDRE DE BourBON, CoMTE DE TOULOUSE After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 65 Only State Governor of Brittany, Admiral of France. 20 Lovis-Henr1, Duc pE BourBOoN, PRINCE DE Conp£, MINISTER OF STATE After Pierre Gobert Firmin-Didot 67 Only State ‘‘Rare.’’ 21 MARIE DE LAUBESPINE, MADAME LAm- BERT After Nicolas Largilliére Firmin-Didot 81 Second State, with the address of Drevet Wife of Nicolas Lambert de Thorigny. 22 LEONARD DE LAMET After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 82 Second State. The mis-spelling in the inscription corrected. Theologian, Curé of Saint Eustace, Paris. [16] 23 Frizpricu Aucustus III After Francois de Troy Firmin-Didot 107 First State Collection: Prince Repnine of Russia Elector of Saxony and King of Poland 1696-1763. 24 HyacintHE Ricaup After his own painting Firmin-Didot 112 Third State, of five, before the inscription below Engraved in 1714, after a study of the same size, painted in 1712. 25 CraupE-Louis-Hector, Duc pE ViLLARs After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 123 Third State, before the inscription below was changed from nine lines to six lines. PIERRE-IMBERT DREVET 1697-1739 ‘‘As Eprtincx passed from the scene, the family of Drevet appeared, especially the son, Pierre-Imbert Drevet, born in 1697, who developed a rare excellence, improving even upon the technics of his predecessor, and gilding his re- fined gold. The son was a born engraver, for at the age of thirteen he produced an engraving of exceeding merit. He manifested a singular skill in rendering different substances, like Masson, by the effect of light, and at the same time gave to flesh a softness and transparency which remain unsurpassed. To these he added great richness in picturing costumes and drapery, especially in lace.’’ CHARLES SUMNER {17} 26 Jacques-BEéNIGNE Bossvu&t, BisHOP OF MeEavux After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 12 Fifth State Rigaud’s painting isin the Louvre. It was commenced in 1699, when Rigaud painted the head, but not com- pleted until 1705, after Bossuet’s death. ‘The portrait of Bosswet has everything to attract and charm. There stands the powerful defender of the Catholic Church, master of French style, and most renowned pulpit orator of France, in episcopal robes, with abundant lace, which is the perpetual envy of the fair who look at this transcendent effort.”’ CHARLES SUMNER ‘‘It was at twenty-six years of age that he engraved the marvellous portrait of Bossuet, one of the chefs- d’ceuvre of engraving. ‘One can desire nothing more able,’ cries Mariette, ‘than this admirable plate,’ and in fact it would seem almost impossible that the art of engraving could exceed such a pitch of perfec- tion. All the qualities of the engraver seem consum- mated in this superb plate: facility of execution, har- mony of figure, and above all exquisite distribution of light. One’s admiration for detail should cede, according to our idea, to the admiration compelled by the nobility of the ensemble.”’ Baron Rocer PorrTatis 27 GUILLAUME DuBois, CARDINAL After Hyacinthe Rigaud Firmin-Didot 15 Second State Of the first state two proofs only were known to Fir- min-Didot. [18 ] Born at Brives-la-Gaillarde, Sept. 6, 1656: died at Versailles, Aug. 10, 1723. Councillor of State 1715; negotiated the Triple Alliance, between France, Eng- land and Holland, in 1717; and was prime minister ii 1723. 28 LouisE-ADELAIDE D’OrRLEANS After Pierre Gobert Firmin-Didot 18 Only State | Collection: Prince Repnine of Russia . Mlle. de Chartres, Abbesse de Chelles, daughter of the Regent. .29 ADRIENNE LECOUVREUR After Charles Coypel Firmin-Didot 24 Second State, of three, with the mis-spelling model for modele. “All this engraver’s works are so fine that it is not easy to designate the best; but his full-length por- trait of the eloquent Bishop Bossuet is a masterpiece; while still more interesting is that of the beautiful and ill-fated tragedienne Adrienne Lecouvreur, whose love for Marechal Saxe, and untimely death, are themselves a tragedy more affecting than any she simulated on the stage.”’ Frepericx Keppen GERARD. _EDELINCK 1640-1707 ‘““TurNING to the France of two hundred and fifty years ago, we find Louis XIV on the throne, and Corneille, Racine, La Fontaine, and Moliére adorning literature with their splendid works, and we also find a school of engrav- ers who may well claim fellowship in genius with those immortal names. [19 ] “‘These eminent artists chiefly excelled in the delineation of the human face; never before nor since have such por- traits been produced. They are embellished with all the resources of the art. Many of those prints represent per- sonages who then filled a large place in the eyes of the world, but whose names are now only remembered in con- nection with their portraits; but we have also preserved to us the lineaments of men such as La Fontaine, Colbert, and Bossuet, whose places in the Temple of Fame are as- sured. Art at this period was elaborate and florid, as were literature, manners, and dress, and those engravers, to whom no technical difficulty was an obstacle, reveled in the reproduction of costumes and accessories. The person- age represented is usually resplendent with all the bravery of fur, lace, brocade, and velvet, while all the surround- ings are rich and gorgeous. “Of these engravers, GErarD Epexincx deserves a high place. Born at Antwerp in 1627, he was, while yet a young man, invited to Paris by Colbert, the great minister, who did so much to encourage art, and during the remainder of a life prolonged to eighty years he was identified with the French school. Edelinck was taken into the King’s service, had a pension settled on him, and later he re- ceived a patent of nobility. Of his numerous portraits, that of Philippe de Champaigne is allowed to be the finest; but there are others of great merit, such as that of his patron Colbert, Van den Baugart the sculptor, the archi- tect Mansard, Pierre de Montarsis, and Dilgerus.”’ FREDERICK KEPPEL “In comparing Nanteuil and Edelinck one finds that Edelinck’s work has certain qualities that Nanteuil lacks, [20 ] but these are always balanced by other qualities in Nan- teuil’s favor; in the essential ones Nanteuil is far superior. . . . His technical accomplishments are more varied than Nanteuil’s: he has a wider range of tones; his tones are sometimes deeper, more brilliant, livelier,—often softer and warmer than Nanteuil’s; his lines sometimes more delicately cut. But his lines are never as direct, as exprtes- sive;—he uses more lines with less result. In portraits he engraved not only the severer style of Philippe de Cham- paigne, but the large and elaborate compositions of Ri- gaud; not only busts but three-quarter length figures; and his plates range in size from these large plates down to plates that are almost miniatures.”’ T. H. THomas “Younger than Nanteuil by ten years, Gérard Edelinck excelled him in genuine mastery. Born at Antwerp he be- came French, by adoption, occupying apartments in the Gobelins, and enjoying a pension from Louis XIV. Longhi says that he is the engraver whose works not only, ac- cording to his own judgment, but that of the most intel- ligent, deserve the first place among exemplars, and he at- tributes to him all perfections in highest degree; design, chiaroscuro, aerial perspective, local tints, softness, light- ness, variety, in short everything which can enter into the most exacting representation of the true and beautiful with- out the aid of color. Others may have surpassed him in particular things, but according to the Italian teacher, he remains, by common consent, the ‘Prince of Engravers.’ Another critic calls him ‘King.’ It requires no remarkable knowledge to recognize his great merits. Evidently, he is a master, exercising sway with absolute art, and without attempts to bribe the eye with special effects of light, as on metal or satin. CHARLES SUMNER [21] 30 JuLes-PauL DE LIONNE Robert-Dumesnil 247 Second State, before the dedication was erased. 31 CHarLeEs Mouton After Francois de Troy Robert-Dumesnil 281 Second State, of five; with the first address: Known as ‘“‘Mouton the Lute Player,’’ musician to Louis XIV. Engraved in 1692, after one of the most beautiful paintings by Frangois de Troy. Mariette, who saw the picture in 1755, writes of it: ‘Mouton then was 64 years of age. The finest portraits by Van Dyck do not seem to me to be superior.”” FRANCOIS FORSTER 1790-1872 Born at Locle. A pupil, in Paris, of P. G. Langlois. In 1814 he gained the Prix de Rome, and, after his return, soon gained a reputation, his numerous plates being remark- able for the skill with which he represented the original. He handled the burin with great ability, and his faculty of imparting both vigour and tenderness in the execution gives the whole a harmonious and beautiful effect. In 1844 Forster was elected a member of the Institute of France, and the Academies of Brussels and Berlin. He died in Paris, 1872. ‘Forster est l’un des graveurs les plus renommés du si¢cle. Les amateurs d’estampes éprouvés, les passionnés qui aimant la gravure pour la gravure, apprécieront tou- jours ses beaux burins. Henri Bératpr [22] 32 La Vierce Axa LiGENDE After Raphael Béraldi 50 Trial proof, before all letters. HENDRIK GOLTZIUS 1558-1616 ‘Henprix Gorrzius was born at Mulbrecht in 1558. After studying engraving at home under Dirk Cornhett, he trav- elled through Italy and Germany and resided for a time at Rome, attracted by the works of Raphael, Michelan- gelo, and Caravaggio. Upon his return he settled at Haar- lem, where he died in 1616. Goltzius possessed great tech- nical skill, and when he overcame his tendency to exag- getation and mannerism he often produced works of ex- ceptional merit. Some of his large portraits are wonder- fully bold and free in treatment; in other prints the work is miniature-like in its refinement and delicacy. Goltzius had many followers.’’ Wiuus O. Cxapin “Goltzius has complete command of the whole gamut of technical expression. His portraits range in character from prints of the most minute hatching to others of the greatest breadth of line work. He was, perhaps the first adequately to realize the capabilities of the engraver in expressing tone and surface qualities.’’ Artuur M. Hinp ‘His prints show mastery of the art, making something like an epoch in its history. His unwearied skill in the use of the burin appears in the tradition that, having com- menced a line, he carried it to the end without once stop- [ 23 } ping, while the long and bright threads of copper turned up were brushed aside by his flowing beard, which at the end of a day’s labor so shone in the light of a candle that his companions nicknamed him ‘the man with the golden beard. CHARLES SUMNER 33 Henri lV, KiNG OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE Before the erasure of de la Heuve’s address Duplicate from the National Museum, Stockholm ISIDOR STANISLAS HELMAN 1743-1806 Purit of J. P. Le Bas. 34 Lz JARDINIER GALANT After Pierre Baudouin Béraldi 1 Proof before all letters. “Le Jardinier Galant, gravé d’aprés Baudouin en 1778, est une des bonnes éstampes d’Helman.”’ Henri BERALDI DESIRE ACHILLE LEFEVRE 1798-1864 Born in Paris 1798. Died 1864. One of the foremost French line-engravers of the nineteenth century. 35 SAINT CECELIA After Raphael Béraldi 13 Proof before letters, with names of painter and en- graver in scratched letters. [ 24 ] JOHANN AUGUST EDUARD MANDEL 1810-1882 Born at Berlin 1810. A pupil of Buckhorn, and an en- gtaver in pure line. In 1837 he became fellow of the Berlin Academy, and in 1842, after a visit to Paris, was appointed Professor of Engraving. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Salon, where he obtained all the regulation honors. Shortly before his death Mandel is reported to have said,‘‘When I die there will be no more.”’ 36 CHares 1, K1nc or ENGLAND After Van Dyck Proof before letters; the engraver’s name below in scratched letters. 37 La Betta After Titian Remarque proof, before all letters. ANTOINE MASSON 1636-1700 “‘ANTOINE Masson was born in 1636, six years later than Nanteuil. For brilliant hardihood of line Masson is con- spicuous, but, in his larger portraits especially, his very ability defeated its object, for he made the accessories so brilliant as sometimes to call the eye away from the fea- tures themselves. One of his smaller portraits, however— that of Brisaczer, known as the ‘Gray-haired Man,’—ranks as a masterpiece; while it is a marvel of technical skill, it is at the same time free from the bizarre effect of some of his life-size heads.’’ FrepEerick KEpPEL [25 } 38 GUILLAUME DE BrIsAcIER Robert-Dumesnil 15 Second State, of four; with two mis-spellings in the inscription Collections: Chevalier de Franck; Comte O. de Be- hague ‘‘L’un des chefs-d’ceuvre du maitre.” Rosert-DuMESNIL ‘‘Masson’s undoubted masterpiece, however, from an artistic as well as from a technical standpoint, is his beautiful portrait of the Queen's secretary, Bri- sacier, called the ‘Gray-Haired Man,’ a masterpiece of engraving, and a worthy companion to Nanteuil’s Pompone and Edelinck’s Philippe de Champaigne.”’ Wixus O. CuHaPin 39 Marin CuREAU DELA CHAMBRE After Pierre Mignard Robert-Dumesnil 24 Physician to the King. 40 Henri DE Lorraine, ComTE D’ Har- COURT Robert-Dumesnil 3 4 First State ‘Henri de Lorraine, Comte d’ Harcourt, known as Cadet & la Perle, from the pearl in the ear, with the date 1667, is often placed at the head of engraved por- traits. The vigorous countenance is aided by the gleam and sheen of the various substances, entering into the costume.”’ CHARLES SUMNER [ 26 } RAPHAEL MORGHEN 1758-1833 ‘‘PROBABLY no engraver has had so large a following as Rapuaret Morcuen. This is partly due to his soft and cap- tivating style and partly to his excellent judgment in the choice of subjects. Morghen has preserved to the world the almost extinct glories of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper in a plate which alone would have made the repu- tation of any engraver.”’ Freperick Keppen 41 MADONNA OF THE GOLDFINCH After Raphael Proof before all letters JOHANN GOTTHARD VON MULLER 1747-1830 “Born at Bernhausen, in the duchy of Wiirtemberg, in 1747. He was favoured with the protection of the Duke Karl Eugen, by whose aid he studied painting and design for six years, and was sent to Paris in 1770, where, in 1772, he becatne a pupil of J. G. Wille, and began to engrave. His talents procured him his reception into the Academie in Paris in 1776. He soon afterwards returned to Stutt- gart, where, by order of the Duke, he founded an Academy of Design, of which he was a professor during 1776-94, and subsequently director. He died at Stuttgart in 1830. Miiller did not produce many important plates, but at his best is a very sympathetic engraver—far more so than Wille. He had little or none of Wille’s passion for tech- nical feats,—though at his best he is quite as skilful as Wille. His heads have more depth of character; his tone { 27 | is more sympathetic; he is a more sensitive draughtsman; —and in short far more of an artist than Wille.”’ T. H. THomas 42 MapaME ViG£E-LEBRUN After her own painting Proof before all letters 43 SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST After the painting by Domenichino Andresen 6 Fifth State, before any inscription “T do not find in all art a portrait, so admirable in form, so perfect in its light and shade, so beautiful in expression, the tones of which are so softly blended—that is so free from engraving artifice—as this. GriusEpPE LoNGHI ROBERT NANTEUIL 1630-1678 ‘‘NotHinc more admirable has been done in the realms of engraving than these quiet prints, in which there is no affectation, no parade of technical brilliance, and it is a question whether anything more sincere has been accom- plished in the history of portraiture. The portraits of Nanteuit take their place with perfect dignity alongside of the subtle crayon portraits of the courtiers of Henry VIII, at Windsor Castle, and the exquisite drawings of the courtiers of Francis I and Henry I], which alone would make Chantilly worthy of a pilgrimage. Nanteuil’s draw- ing is perfect and his massing of tones masterly; his ex- pression of texture has both realism and breadth, and his indication of skin, by means of a system of very close and [28] delicate short strokes, is an admirable solution of a prob- lem which had been the despair of the entire school.”’ Louis R. MetTcALFE ‘““But—admirable as is Nanteuil’s technique, and im- portant as it is in the history of engraving—it is not as a technician that he has the greatest claim to fame,—but as an original artist. Nanteuil, indeed, has never come into his own in the annals of French art. He is not only the finest of French portrait engravers, but one of the masters of French portraiture. His work has all the characteristic French qualities: its sense of style, its measure and bal- ance, and its highly intellectual quality. ... Among French portrait painters he is unsurpassed as a draughts- man, and in certain supreme qualities of the portraitist— in depth of character, in reserve and repose, and above all in probity, very few of them can claim torank beside him.”’ T. H. THomas 44 FrepERic-MauRIcE DE LA TouR D AUVERGNE, Duc pE BovILLOoN Robert-Dumesnil 49 Third State Elder brother of the great Turenne. Born at Sedan, October 22, 1605. Died at Pontoise, August 22, 1652. ‘The Duke de Bouillon was a man of experienced val- our and profound sense. I am fully persuaded, by what I have seen of his conduct, that those who cry it down wrong his character; and it may be that others had too favourable notions of his merit, who thought him capable of all the great things which 3 9? he never did.”” Memorrs or CARDINAL DE RETz [29 ] 45 Jean-Baptiste CoLBERT, CONTROLEUR GENERAL DES FINANCES Robert-Dumesnil 71 First State Collection: Pierre Mariette, 1660. ‘In spite of his many errors, Colbert raised France to the first rank among commercial nations. He in- creased her wealth, he successfully established man- ufactures, he raised the credit of the nation. In 1678 Sir William Temple was much impressed by the wealth and prosperity of France, and this was en- tirely due to Colbert. He may have seized every op- portunity for personal advancement, but France profited immensely from his administration. He was distinctly a statesman, for he conceived a magnifi- cent and at the same time a practicable scheme for making France the leading power among European ttations. And he was above all admirably suited to Louis XIV. Like his master, he had a matchless faculty for work, not scorning the smallest details, nor shrinking from the vastest undertakings. To his ability, energy, and laboriousness he owed a position for which he was admirably adapted. To Colbert Louis was indebted for much, if not all, of the suc- cess of his enterprises during the twenty-five years succeeding Mazarin’s death.”’ Artuur Hassauu, Lowis XIV 46 JEAN-BAPpTISTE COLBERT After the painting by Philippe de Champaigne Robert-Dumesnil 72 First State, of three. ‘‘Rare”’ Dated 1662 Collection: Ambroise Firmin-Didot. [30 | 47 BasiLE FouqQuet Robert-Dumesnil 97 Only State Engraved in 1658 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from life. ‘Basile Fouquet, brother of the great Surintendent des Finances, Nicolas Fouquet, was at that time the head spy of Mazarin as well as the chancellor of the orders of the King and the most accomplished ras- cal, who ever fished in troubled watets.”’ Louis R. MrercaLFe 48 Nicoutas FouqueEt Robert-Dumesnil 98 Second State, of six Dated 1661 Collection: Fritz Rumpf Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle-Isle, was Super- intendent of Finance (1652-1661) in spite of the fact that he was also Procureur Général of the Parle- ment de Paris. In 1664 he was accused of corruption and dishonesty in the management of the finances, of appropriating to himself public money, of prepar- ing to revive civil war in France, and for that pur- pose of fortifying Belle-Isle. The charges of treason were absurd, of dishonesty most probably true. Judged by modern standards, Mazarin was as guilty as Fouquet. The whole financial system was rotten and remained so, with intervals of improvement, until the Revolution and after. In building his palace at Vaux, today Villars, Fou- quet expended eighteen million francs of the money of his time. This would be equivalent to 36,000,000 francs at the present time. Even after his arrest he was able to lend the king 2,000,000 francs. He was {31} C4 in the habit of playing for very high stakes, and often lost 100,000 crowns at a single sitting. Never was a squanderer of the royal resources more noble and more generous than this superintendent, never was a man highly placed who had more personal friends, and never a man persecuted who was better served during the time of his misfortune. Condemned by a commission in 1664 to perpetual banishment, he died in obscurity in 1680. After his disgrace the place of superintendent was suppressed. “Of the three ministers to whom Louis had openly ¢ given his confidence, Lionne, Le Tellier, and Fou- quet, the last named was the only one who possessed the qualities necessary for a Prime Minister. ‘It was generally believed,’ says Madame de La Fay- ette, ‘that the Superintendent would be called upon to take the Government into his hands.’ There is no doubt whatever that Fouquet himself expected even- tually to succeed Mazarin. He did not believe in Louis’ perseverance; he was convinced that in a few months the King would gladly delegate his power to a minister. What rival had Fouquet to fear? He was well aware of his intellectual superiority to Le Tellier and Lionne; he had already been entrusted with important matters touching not only the in- ternal condition but also the foreign relations of France; he had frequent confidential interviews with the King. His relations, too, with the Court gave him every confidence. The number of his friends and clients and pensioners was enormous; he was fa- youred by the Queen-Mother; in the Council itself, though Le Tellier might be hostile, Lionne was practically in his pay. “His way seemed so clear, the confidence of the King so assured, that Fouquet neglected to take any pre- [32] cautions, and believed that within a very short time he would be at the head of affairs. “The trial of Fouquet was a seventeenth-century War- ren Hastings trial. It was necessary to make an ex- ample in the case of the French Finance Minister as it was in the case of the Indian Governor-General. Had Fouquet been proved innocent it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to punish smaller men, or to annul the ruinous engagements into which he had entered. Louis, moreover, simply dared not allow Fouquet to be at large. He feared that the powerful and captivating minister might somehow interfere with his scheme of governing France after his own method. “‘The fall of Fouquet marks an epoch in the history of France. The reign of Louis XIV really began from the date of the Superintendent’s arrest. The fall of Fouquet was not the fall of an ordinary minister, it was the fall of a system of government which had lasted half a century. It was the end of the period of Richelieu and of Mazarin, of the Hétel de Rambouil- let and of Fronde, with all the intrigues and activi- ties of that time. Resistance to Louis’ scheme of government was now over. Henceforward he could exercise his power without control or interference.” Artuur Hassatx, Lowis XIV 49 CHARLES DE LA Porte, Duc pE La MEIL- LERAYE From the painting by Justus Robert-Dumesnil 118 Only State. Dated 1662 Collections: Brentano-Birckenstock Ambroise Firmin-Didot Louis Galichon [33] Born 1602. Died at Paris, February 8, 1664. Peer of France, Marshal and Grand-master of the Artillery. His matshal’s baton was presented to him by Louis XIII in 1639, upon the occasion of the breach in the defenses of the town of Hesdin. He was a great mas- ter of artillery tactics, and was esteemed the great- est general of his time in the conduct of sieges. 50 MicHEL LE TELLIER, MINISTER OF STATE Robert-Dumesnil 131 Only State Dated 1659 From Nanteuil’s own design from life. ‘‘Piqued at some such treatment, De Noyers asked to be allowed to retire and the king, (Louis XIII), took him at his word. . . . His place was filled by Le Tellier, a man—the Venetian minister wrote— ‘who depended upon Mazarin as day upon the sun." Le Tellier was destined to a long political career. Always capable, never ambitious, filling well the position in the affairs of state assigned to him, he died at 82, while Chancellor of France.”’ J. B. Perxins, France under Richelieu and Mazarin Michel Le Tellier, Chancellor of France, and Min- ister of State, was born at Paris, April 19, 1603, and died October 28, 1685, a few days after having signed, joyfully, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. To him the queen regent and Cardinal Mazarin gave their especial confidence, and upon the death of Ma- zarin in 1661, Le Tellier, together with Fouquet and Lionne, formed the inner council, with whom Louis daily from the hours of nine until eleven each morn- ing arranged the order of each day’s work. In 1666 [34] he resigned his office as Secretary of State, in favor of his eldest son, the Marquis de Louvois, but still retained his seat in the council, and his title. The king, who held him in high esteem, made him Chan- cellor and Garde des Sceaux in 1677, which office, in spite of his advanced years, Le Tellier continued to discharge with great ability until his death in 168 $5 regretted by the king and by all France. 51 Nicoxas Potrer pz Novion, PREMIER PRESIDENT AU PARLEMENT DE Paris Robert-Dumesnil 207 Second State Dated 1664 : Collection: Pierre Mariette, 1669 From Nanteuil’s own design Born 1618. Was successively Conseiller au Parlement in 1637; President 4 Mortier in 1645; Secretaire des Ordres du Roi in 1656; President des Grands-Jours d'Auvergne in 1665; and finally Premier President au Parlement in 1678. He sold his office in 1689, and died in 1693. ANTONIO PERFETTI 1792-1872 Born at Florence 1792, and from 1818 onward was a pupil of Raphael Morghen. In 1828 he obtained the prize at the Florence Academy with his Sibyl of Cuma, after Guercino. He died in Florence in 1872. 52 Tue SaMIAN SiByL After Guercino Proof before all letters [35] GEORG FRIEDRICH SCHMIDT 1712-1775 “Even before Scamipt (1712-1775) came to France he adopted the technique of the French engravers. In Paris he was first employed in the atelier of De Larmessin, but he seems to have followed no regular master but to have taught himself. He followed without any change what- ever the technique of the Drevets and with conspicuous SUCCESS.” T. H. Taomas 53 Curist1an Aucustus III, DuxkE oF Saxony, KinGc oF POLAND After Antoine Pesne Collection: Rudolf Peltzer SIR ROBERT STRANGE 1721-1792 ‘Tue greatest English classical engraver, Str RoBert SrraNGE, even if not an innovator in the matter of pre- liminary etching, was the first distinguished engraver to turn the practice into a convention. “‘Apprenticed to Richard Cooper in Edinburgh, he was practising engraving on his own account in that city at the time of the Rebellion of the Young Pretender. He joined the Jacobites, engraved a portrait of Prince Charles, is said to have fought at Culloden, and to have fled after the defeat to France. For some time he studied under Le- bas in Paris, returning to England about 1751. “On the accession of George III, in 1760, Strange left England to pass a few years in Italy. Until the last years of his life he was never in favour at Court; and at this par- [ 36 ] ticular juncture his refusal to engrave the King’s portrait may have advised a temporary retirement. He won great tepute abroad, became a member of the Academies at Rome and Florence as well as at Paris, and his prints after the great masters must have exerted a very considerable in- fluence on Italian engravers like Volpato and his followers. Strange’s most powerful and ambitious works were done in England during the last ten years of his life. One may mention in particular the Charles I, with James, Marquis of Hamilton, after Van Dyck (1782), the Henrietta Maria and two Children, adapted from Van Dyck (1784) and the Apo- theosis of the Princes Alfred and Octavius (1786). He stands, as Faithorne had done among the great portraitists, rather for irreproachable soundness and strength, than for any of the qualities of the great artist in engraving.”’ ‘ Artuur M. Hinp 54 Cuaruezs I, Kinc or ENGLAND, WITH Jamzs, Marquis or HAMILTON After Sir Anthony Van Dyck LeBlanc 45 Proof before all letters and before the small trial scratches in the margins were erased. PAOLO TOSCHI 1788-1854 Paoto Toscui was born at Parma in 1788 and died there in 1854. He was a pupil of Bervic in Paris and was also greatly influenced by the painter Gérardand bythe engraver Longhi. Returning to Italy, he became Professor of Engraving and Director of the Academy at Parma. Toschi achieved last- [37] ing fame by his engravings from the frescoes of Correggio and Parmigiano. ‘‘The last of the great Italian engravers was Paolo Tos- chi, pupil of Bervic, who was himself a pupil of Wille. It remained for Toschi to discover in the lovely frescoes of Correggio, at Parma, a mine of the richest ore, which his predecessors for more than three centuries had scarcely touched. The Madonna della Scala, the Incoronata, and the pair of groups of cherubs may be cited as examples of what Toschi has done for Correggio—and for Art.” FREDERICK KEPPEL 55 Maponna DeEtta SCALA After Correggio Remarque proof The most beautiful of all Toschi’s engravings. One of the few which he engraved entirely with his own hand. 56 Maponna DELLA TENDA After Correggio Appel 2 First State Proof before all letters. CORNELIS VISSCHER 1629-1658 ‘In spite of the shortness of his career, CoRNELIS VISSCHER ranks among the most distinguished engravers of the seven- teenth century. His work with the burin is free from all conventionality in the arrangement of lines, and he unites etching and line engraving with a soft and harmonious [ 38 } effect, particularly in his own peculiar treatment of flesh and hair. Of Visscher’s prints, amounting to about two hundred in all, the best are his fine and spirited portraits of his contemporaries, particularly remarkable being that of the poet Vondel, and those known as ‘Tur Turer Brarps,’ De Bouma, De Ryck, and Scriverius.”’ F. Lippmann 57 WILLIAM DE Rycxk Dutuit 115 “But all yield to what are known as Tue Turex Bearps, being the portraits of William de Ryck, an ophthal- mist at Amsterdam, and of Gellius de Bouma, the Zutphen ecclesiastic. The latter is especially famous. In harmony with the beard is the heavy face, seventy- seven years old, showing the fulness of long-con- tinued potation, and hands like the face, original and powerful, if not beautiful.”’ CHArLEs SUMNER JOHANN GEORG WILLE 1715-1808 ‘Born neat Koenigsberg (Grand duchy of Hesse), 171 - died in Paris, 1808. About the year 1736, in company with his countryman, Georg Friedrich Schmidt, he went to Paris to devote himself to engraving, an art which he greatly influenced. He soon received the favorable notice of Hyacinthe Rigaud, some of whose portraits heen graved, and, directed and advised by that master, rose rapidly into eminence, becoming the foremost engraver of his time. . . His prints bear dates from 1738 to 1790, after which time he became blind and impoverished during the Revolution . . . He was the teacher of Bervic, J. G. von Miller, Tar- [39 } dieu, and other eminent engravers, who in turn transmitted his instructions to their pupils, amongst whom were Des- noyers, Longhi, Toschi, Anderloni, and J. F. W. Miller.”’ Wiututs O. CHaPin 58 Les Music1eENs AMBULANTS After Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich LeBlanc 52 Fifth State The original painting is in the National Gallery, London. ‘‘His neat and careful style was adapted to pictures of the School of Gerard Dow, as well as to elaborate portraits, and there is no engraver whose works are more eagerly sought and more universally admired. A complete mention of the favorite prints by this art- ist would exhaust the entire catalogue of his works. His Satin Gown and the Travelling Musicians are his acknowledged masterpieces.’ FREDERICK KEPPEL 59 Lz Concert DE FAMILLE After Godfried Schalcken LeBlanc 54 First State, before all letters, with the coat of arms below, and the word Wille above. 60 L’INstrucTION PATERNELLE After Gerard Terburgh LeBlanc $5 Fourth State ‘‘His mastership of the graver was perfect, lending itself especially to the representation of satin and metal, although less happy with flesh. His Satin Gown, or L' Instruction Paternelle, after Terburgh, and [40] Les Musiciens Ambulants, after Dietrich, are always admired. Nothing of the kind in engraving is finer. His style was adapted to pictures of the Dutch School, and to portraits with rich surroundings.’’ CHARLES SUMNER 61 La Tricoteuse HoLLANDAISE After Mieris LeBlanc 64 First State Proof before all letters. 62 Cuarxues Louis AucustE FOUQUET DE BELuLe-IsiE After Hyacinthe Rigaud LeBlanc 120 Third State, with the full inscription and the arms of the personage. [41] patos Deel Ea ac; —- ae Sai wag. “D5 tht a ae of eet. Rago : ——- are leon ee a ee es - (eagipvad dey: ies ta & ne Map ee - Fate S . ee Se gt oe Hee 4 ? “ . q ~~ ‘ et OT v: 1 + et ~~ oe Ce has fen me ~ * Siar Sagara see a Spa paste 1s “ PEE: Lr St onion 4 ae ie te ——— a: May hor re We i? his ea ; Ge ray et i = ‘Til | | if l | | i | | i | il ta Ey tual s) rents, fans tesghtot’= he