DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7597#0297
264
VASARI'S ACCOUNT OF FINIGUERRA. [chap. iv.
" his hand, worked in niello, in the church of St. Giovanni, at
" Florence, which are justly deemed astonishing productions.
" From this kind of Engraving was derived the art of Chalco-
" graphy, by means of which we now see so many prints, by Ita-
" lian and German artists throughout Italy; for as those who
" worked in silver, before they filled their engravings with niello,
" took impressions of them with earth, over which they poured
" liquid sulphur, so the printers discovered the way of taking off
" impressions from copper-plates with a press, as we see them do
" in these days."*
The above is all the information that we find relative to the
origin of Engraving, in the first edition of Vasari, printed in 1550 ;
for although Finiguerra is mentioned by him a second time in that
edition, in the life of Pollajuolo, nothing is said of his practice of
taking impressions from his engravings on paper; so that but for
his augmented work, published in 1568, we might still be in
ignorance of Maso's pretensions as the inventor of chalcography, f
Whether the Aretine biographer intended that his readers should
infer, from the latter part of this passage, that Maso was the
inventor, or whether he himself was uninformed of the fact
until after the publication of the first edition of his book, may
appear to be a question not very easy to determine; though, for
reasons, which will hereafter appear, I am inclined to the former
opinion.
* Vasari, torn. i. p. 6l, Edizione di Bo-
logna. This passage is the same in all the
editions.
f There is indeed a passage in the Life of
Andrea Mantegna, in the first edition of
Vasari, which might lead any person, un-
acquainted with that writer's careless mode
of expression, to suppose that he meant
to give Mantegna the credit of the in-
vention of chalcography. " Lascio costui
" alia pittura," says Vasari, " la difficult*
" degli scorti delle figure al di sotto in su;
" invenzione difficile et capricciosa ; Et il
" rnodo dello intagliare in rame le Stampe
" del/a figure" &c. " He left to painting
" the difficult art of foreshortening figures,
" di sotto in sii," &c—" and the method of
" engraving figures upon copper-plates," 8tc.
I am of opinion, however, that Vasari meant
no more than that Mantegna was the first
who published large engravings worthy of
notice, in any number.
VASARI'S ACCOUNT OF FINIGUERRA. [chap. iv.
" his hand, worked in niello, in the church of St. Giovanni, at
" Florence, which are justly deemed astonishing productions.
" From this kind of Engraving was derived the art of Chalco-
" graphy, by means of which we now see so many prints, by Ita-
" lian and German artists throughout Italy; for as those who
" worked in silver, before they filled their engravings with niello,
" took impressions of them with earth, over which they poured
" liquid sulphur, so the printers discovered the way of taking off
" impressions from copper-plates with a press, as we see them do
" in these days."*
The above is all the information that we find relative to the
origin of Engraving, in the first edition of Vasari, printed in 1550 ;
for although Finiguerra is mentioned by him a second time in that
edition, in the life of Pollajuolo, nothing is said of his practice of
taking impressions from his engravings on paper; so that but for
his augmented work, published in 1568, we might still be in
ignorance of Maso's pretensions as the inventor of chalcography, f
Whether the Aretine biographer intended that his readers should
infer, from the latter part of this passage, that Maso was the
inventor, or whether he himself was uninformed of the fact
until after the publication of the first edition of his book, may
appear to be a question not very easy to determine; though, for
reasons, which will hereafter appear, I am inclined to the former
opinion.
* Vasari, torn. i. p. 6l, Edizione di Bo-
logna. This passage is the same in all the
editions.
f There is indeed a passage in the Life of
Andrea Mantegna, in the first edition of
Vasari, which might lead any person, un-
acquainted with that writer's careless mode
of expression, to suppose that he meant
to give Mantegna the credit of the in-
vention of chalcography. " Lascio costui
" alia pittura," says Vasari, " la difficult*
" degli scorti delle figure al di sotto in su;
" invenzione difficile et capricciosa ; Et il
" rnodo dello intagliare in rame le Stampe
" del/a figure" &c. " He left to painting
" the difficult art of foreshortening figures,
" di sotto in sii," &c—" and the method of
" engraving figures upon copper-plates," 8tc.
I am of opinion, however, that Vasari meant
no more than that Mantegna was the first
who published large engravings worthy of
notice, in any number.