DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52444#0055
INTRODUCTION.
diets the ways of Diirer, so far as we know them. The trial proofs from
the “Hercules” (No. 17) and from “Adam and Eve” (No. 34) show
that he did not carry on his plates as a whole, but that he finished one
part after another. It may be claimed, however, that he changed his
method in later years, and this conjecture does not involve an impossi-
bility. But if he executed some of his plates in at least three stages, as
it is averred of “ The Virgin seated by a Wall,” — first lightly etching it,
then strengthening the darker shading, and then re-working the whole
plate with the burin,— where, it is quite legitimate to ask, are the proofs
of these three distinctly different “ states ” ? Finally, as to the re-work-
ing of the whole surface of the plate with the burin,— a terrible under-
taking in plates of such delicate character, not at all to be compared
with the reentering of the lines, as practised by later engravers ! Mr.
Middleton himself, indeed, indirectly recognizes this difficulty. Writing
of “The Knight, Death, and the Devil ” (No. 69 of his, as well as of the
present catalogue), he says: “ It has been suggested that to conceal the
error [in one of the feet of the horse], he worked the plate over again,
hence the dark tone of the earlier [sie /] impressions. I cannot accede
to this supposition; it would hardly have been possible to avoid leaving
some trace of such re-work, and yet no such trace can be discovered.”
Is not, then, the question pertinent: Why are no such traces visible in,
the other plates which are supposed to have been re-worked ?
As to paragraph 5, no remarks are needed.
Considering all these points, it is impossible to come to a conclusion
differing from the statement made at the outset: Of Diirer’s plates on
metal, four are dry-points, six are etchings on iron, all the rest are pure
burin work.
Nevertheless, it is an undeniable fact that some of the impressions
from Diirer’s plates are black, others silvery, while others again show
still different qualities. The explanation of these differences is found
in the varying methods of printing adopted and developed by Diirer
and his printers in the course of time.
xxxvii
diets the ways of Diirer, so far as we know them. The trial proofs from
the “Hercules” (No. 17) and from “Adam and Eve” (No. 34) show
that he did not carry on his plates as a whole, but that he finished one
part after another. It may be claimed, however, that he changed his
method in later years, and this conjecture does not involve an impossi-
bility. But if he executed some of his plates in at least three stages, as
it is averred of “ The Virgin seated by a Wall,” — first lightly etching it,
then strengthening the darker shading, and then re-working the whole
plate with the burin,— where, it is quite legitimate to ask, are the proofs
of these three distinctly different “ states ” ? Finally, as to the re-work-
ing of the whole surface of the plate with the burin,— a terrible under-
taking in plates of such delicate character, not at all to be compared
with the reentering of the lines, as practised by later engravers ! Mr.
Middleton himself, indeed, indirectly recognizes this difficulty. Writing
of “The Knight, Death, and the Devil ” (No. 69 of his, as well as of the
present catalogue), he says: “ It has been suggested that to conceal the
error [in one of the feet of the horse], he worked the plate over again,
hence the dark tone of the earlier [sie /] impressions. I cannot accede
to this supposition; it would hardly have been possible to avoid leaving
some trace of such re-work, and yet no such trace can be discovered.”
Is not, then, the question pertinent: Why are no such traces visible in,
the other plates which are supposed to have been re-worked ?
As to paragraph 5, no remarks are needed.
Considering all these points, it is impossible to come to a conclusion
differing from the statement made at the outset: Of Diirer’s plates on
metal, four are dry-points, six are etchings on iron, all the rest are pure
burin work.
Nevertheless, it is an undeniable fact that some of the impressions
from Diirer’s plates are black, others silvery, while others again show
still different qualities. The explanation of these differences is found
in the varying methods of printing adopted and developed by Diirer
and his printers in the course of time.
xxxvii