DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22421#0327
Letter IX.
COLLECTION OF ENGRAVINGS.
263
begging : these are very animated and clever, and, judging from
the full strokes, belong to Mantegna's later time.
Girolamo Mozzeto, or Mocetto (Bartsch, vol. xiii. p. 116),
who flourished from about 1470 to 1500. Three engravings. He
was a pupil of Giovanni Bellini, and his plates show the tendency
of the Venetian school. According to Bartsch he executed only
eight engravings altogether, so that the three preserved here are
sufficient specimens of his style.
Judith (No. 1). From a spirited composition by Mantegna ;
admirably engraved. A proof impression of incomparable vigour
and freshness, and of a warm tint. Also an excellent impression of
the finished plate. And thirdly, a good impression of a copy.
The Baptism of Christ (No. 2). A beautiful and peculiar
composition, of careful execution and well understood drawing.
Judging from the fine feeling, the character of the heads, the
rendering of the forms, and the cast of the draperies, decidedly
from a design by Francesco Zaganelli da Cotignola, a Lombard,
who flourished chiefly in Ravenna and Faenza. As this master is
but little known to the connoisseur, it is as well to add that I
formed this opinion from a picture attested by Lanzi, in the
Museum at Berlin (No. 1164), and also from a small and very
beautiful picture in the collection of M. de Reiset at Paris. An
excellent impression, but retouched and repaired.
The Virgin and Child (No. 4). Both the quiet and elevated
feeling, as well as the character of the composition, indicate an
original drawing by Giovanni Bellini. Passavant is also of this
opinion.* A good impression.
The Sacrifice of a Pig. A rich composition, in which the
influence of Mantegna is apparent. Executed by an inferior
engraver.
The engraving which Bartsch (vol. xiii. p. 113, No. 10) has
denominated " la Sottise sur le trone," and described as an
anonymous plate, is considered by Ottley, and rightly as it appears
to me, to be the work of Girolamo Mozzeto. The subject was
interpreted by Ottley to represent Calumny, from the picture by
Apelles. The design for this exceedingly clever and animated
composition, with the church of S. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice in
the background, is undoubtedly attributable to the later period of
* Deutsches Kunst-Blatt, 1850, p. 301.
COLLECTION OF ENGRAVINGS.
263
begging : these are very animated and clever, and, judging from
the full strokes, belong to Mantegna's later time.
Girolamo Mozzeto, or Mocetto (Bartsch, vol. xiii. p. 116),
who flourished from about 1470 to 1500. Three engravings. He
was a pupil of Giovanni Bellini, and his plates show the tendency
of the Venetian school. According to Bartsch he executed only
eight engravings altogether, so that the three preserved here are
sufficient specimens of his style.
Judith (No. 1). From a spirited composition by Mantegna ;
admirably engraved. A proof impression of incomparable vigour
and freshness, and of a warm tint. Also an excellent impression of
the finished plate. And thirdly, a good impression of a copy.
The Baptism of Christ (No. 2). A beautiful and peculiar
composition, of careful execution and well understood drawing.
Judging from the fine feeling, the character of the heads, the
rendering of the forms, and the cast of the draperies, decidedly
from a design by Francesco Zaganelli da Cotignola, a Lombard,
who flourished chiefly in Ravenna and Faenza. As this master is
but little known to the connoisseur, it is as well to add that I
formed this opinion from a picture attested by Lanzi, in the
Museum at Berlin (No. 1164), and also from a small and very
beautiful picture in the collection of M. de Reiset at Paris. An
excellent impression, but retouched and repaired.
The Virgin and Child (No. 4). Both the quiet and elevated
feeling, as well as the character of the composition, indicate an
original drawing by Giovanni Bellini. Passavant is also of this
opinion.* A good impression.
The Sacrifice of a Pig. A rich composition, in which the
influence of Mantegna is apparent. Executed by an inferior
engraver.
The engraving which Bartsch (vol. xiii. p. 113, No. 10) has
denominated " la Sottise sur le trone," and described as an
anonymous plate, is considered by Ottley, and rightly as it appears
to me, to be the work of Girolamo Mozzeto. The subject was
interpreted by Ottley to represent Calumny, from the picture by
Apelles. The design for this exceedingly clever and animated
composition, with the church of S. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice in
the background, is undoubtedly attributable to the later period of
* Deutsches Kunst-Blatt, 1850, p. 301.