DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52444#0054
INTRODUCTION.
held by Two Angels,” as “ a plate ” is spoken of in it, and as the plate
named is the only one of which Mr. Middleton declares unequivocally
that it “was both bitten in and completed with the acid” (see No. 70 of
Mr. Middleton’s catalogue). If this expression is to be taken literally, it
involves the claim that Diirer knew the stopping-out process, the method
of laying a re-biting ground, or the reversed process, which begins by
etching the darkest parts first and then proceeds to the lighter, and so on
to the lightest; but there is no evidence whatever in the six undoubtedly
etched plates by Diirer that he was conversant with anything but flat
biting. Nor does the character of the lines in the plate in question point
to anything but the graver, in their steadiness, in their clean cutting, in
the manner of their beginning and ending. This may seem to be simply
the meeting of one assertion by another. It is most unfortunate that it
should be so. There is nothing left to those interested but to investigate
for themselves, and then to judge each assertion in the light of the infor-
mation obtained.
In paragraph 4 the statement is repeated that Diirer “ etches the
plate lightly” and then “deepens” the lines “with the pointy These
plates, therefore, would differ in nothing from those described in para-
graph 2, and the objection raised there would hold good also here. It
is to be presumed, however, that “ point ” in this instance is merely a
misprint for “ burin.” Writing of “The Virgin seated by a Wall” (Mr.
Middleton’s No. 71 ; No. 75 of this catalogue), he says: “The plate was
first lightly etched, and then the lines which should produce the darker
shading were deepened with the burin. In the latest impressions the
lines have all thus been re-worked.” And again of the plate imme-
diately following, “ The Virgin with Short Hair on a Crescent ” (No. 74
of this catalogue) : “ The earliest impressions taken from the lightly-
etched plate have the silvery-gray tone. . . . Later and darker im-
pressions were printed from the plate after it had been re-worked with
the burin.” There are several objections to be made to these statements.
In the first place, the method of proceeding here outlined quite contra-
xxxvi
held by Two Angels,” as “ a plate ” is spoken of in it, and as the plate
named is the only one of which Mr. Middleton declares unequivocally
that it “was both bitten in and completed with the acid” (see No. 70 of
Mr. Middleton’s catalogue). If this expression is to be taken literally, it
involves the claim that Diirer knew the stopping-out process, the method
of laying a re-biting ground, or the reversed process, which begins by
etching the darkest parts first and then proceeds to the lighter, and so on
to the lightest; but there is no evidence whatever in the six undoubtedly
etched plates by Diirer that he was conversant with anything but flat
biting. Nor does the character of the lines in the plate in question point
to anything but the graver, in their steadiness, in their clean cutting, in
the manner of their beginning and ending. This may seem to be simply
the meeting of one assertion by another. It is most unfortunate that it
should be so. There is nothing left to those interested but to investigate
for themselves, and then to judge each assertion in the light of the infor-
mation obtained.
In paragraph 4 the statement is repeated that Diirer “ etches the
plate lightly” and then “deepens” the lines “with the pointy These
plates, therefore, would differ in nothing from those described in para-
graph 2, and the objection raised there would hold good also here. It
is to be presumed, however, that “ point ” in this instance is merely a
misprint for “ burin.” Writing of “The Virgin seated by a Wall” (Mr.
Middleton’s No. 71 ; No. 75 of this catalogue), he says: “The plate was
first lightly etched, and then the lines which should produce the darker
shading were deepened with the burin. In the latest impressions the
lines have all thus been re-worked.” And again of the plate imme-
diately following, “ The Virgin with Short Hair on a Crescent ” (No. 74
of this catalogue) : “ The earliest impressions taken from the lightly-
etched plate have the silvery-gray tone. . . . Later and darker im-
pressions were printed from the plate after it had been re-worked with
the burin.” There are several objections to be made to these statements.
In the first place, the method of proceeding here outlined quite contra-
xxxvi