DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67657#0435
Andrea Mantegna.
331
graver, in his undisputed works, belongs to the broad manner in
its general imitation of pen drawing, only he had more methodically
developed the system of lightly engraved strokes laid at an acute angle
between his principal lines, thus closely imitating the return stroke
characteristic of his own pen drawings (e.g. the Virgin and Child
enthroned, with an Angel and a Study from the Nude in the British
Museum). This scheme finds its nearest parallel in Pollaiuolo’s Battle
of Naked Men. Pollaiuolo’s stroke and return stroke are in fact even
more regular than Mantegna’s, appearing unbroken, like lines made
with the pen drawn backwards and forwards without lifting; they are
moreover nearly of one breadth, while in Mantegna’s work the return or
cross strokes are much more lightly engraved than the main parallel
lines. Pollaiuolo, again, rarely defines the several parts and muscles
of the body by lines as Mantegna does. In the work of both, the
principal outlines are strong and deep, but in Mantegna the furrow is
more irregular, often distinctly disclosing the repeated strokes of the
graver which achieved its breadth. In Mantegna’s work the lighter
lines, which almost entirely disappear with a few printings, seem
generally to be lightly scratched rather than engraved, and in two
plates in particular (Nos. 1 and 3), there is a lack of clear definition
in the lines, which has been explained as possibly due to the use of
a round-bellied graver (of a scorper shape) on a plate of somewhat
soft and unbeaten copper. The broken nature of the lines in the
earliest impressions must be largely due to the use of an ink of thin
consistency, which was not properly absorbed by the paper. If the
printing was done by hand pressure, as seems probable in many cases,
this irregular quality of the line would be still further accounted for.
We referred to an essential distinction in technical manner
between the prints of the authentic group and II, Nos. 4 and 5
(the Scoiurging, and Christ descending into HelC). In these two
plates the lines of shading, as well as the outline, are deeply and
clearly cut: there is none of the interlay of lighter shading, and
cross-hatching occurs. Moreover the design as transferred to the
plate is rendered coarsely, though powerfully, and quite lacks the
expressive touch of Mantegna’s unquestioned work. In style the
two subjects correspond closely to Mantegna’s Erernitani frescoes,
and it is on the supposition of their being early works that most
critics have accepted their authenticity. But Mantegna even as a
tiro could hardly have been guilty of a hand so unmeaning and rude in
drawing as that of the young soldier in the foreground of No. 4.
These plates must rather be regarded as engravings by anonymous
masters of the school, after early designs by the master.
331
graver, in his undisputed works, belongs to the broad manner in
its general imitation of pen drawing, only he had more methodically
developed the system of lightly engraved strokes laid at an acute angle
between his principal lines, thus closely imitating the return stroke
characteristic of his own pen drawings (e.g. the Virgin and Child
enthroned, with an Angel and a Study from the Nude in the British
Museum). This scheme finds its nearest parallel in Pollaiuolo’s Battle
of Naked Men. Pollaiuolo’s stroke and return stroke are in fact even
more regular than Mantegna’s, appearing unbroken, like lines made
with the pen drawn backwards and forwards without lifting; they are
moreover nearly of one breadth, while in Mantegna’s work the return or
cross strokes are much more lightly engraved than the main parallel
lines. Pollaiuolo, again, rarely defines the several parts and muscles
of the body by lines as Mantegna does. In the work of both, the
principal outlines are strong and deep, but in Mantegna the furrow is
more irregular, often distinctly disclosing the repeated strokes of the
graver which achieved its breadth. In Mantegna’s work the lighter
lines, which almost entirely disappear with a few printings, seem
generally to be lightly scratched rather than engraved, and in two
plates in particular (Nos. 1 and 3), there is a lack of clear definition
in the lines, which has been explained as possibly due to the use of
a round-bellied graver (of a scorper shape) on a plate of somewhat
soft and unbeaten copper. The broken nature of the lines in the
earliest impressions must be largely due to the use of an ink of thin
consistency, which was not properly absorbed by the paper. If the
printing was done by hand pressure, as seems probable in many cases,
this irregular quality of the line would be still further accounted for.
We referred to an essential distinction in technical manner
between the prints of the authentic group and II, Nos. 4 and 5
(the Scoiurging, and Christ descending into HelC). In these two
plates the lines of shading, as well as the outline, are deeply and
clearly cut: there is none of the interlay of lighter shading, and
cross-hatching occurs. Moreover the design as transferred to the
plate is rendered coarsely, though powerfully, and quite lacks the
expressive touch of Mantegna’s unquestioned work. In style the
two subjects correspond closely to Mantegna’s Erernitani frescoes,
and it is on the supposition of their being early works that most
critics have accepted their authenticity. But Mantegna even as a
tiro could hardly have been guilty of a hand so unmeaning and rude in
drawing as that of the young soldier in the foreground of No. 4.
These plates must rather be regarded as engravings by anonymous
masters of the school, after early designs by the master.