Details — Click to read
ANTONIO DA TRENTO (CIRCA 15101550) AFTER PARMIGIANINO (1503-1540),The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist, chiaroscuro woodcut, printed from two blocks in grey and sand, circa 1527-30. Reference: Bartsch 7, Takahatake 26, on laid paper, watermark Hand and Flower (see watermark illustration in Takahatake, The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy, fig. 5, p. 272; similar to Briquet 10765, Genoa, circa 1524-27), with narrow margins, in very good condition; block & sheet 346 x 265 mm.
Provenance:
With Colnaghi & Co., London (their stocknumber C. 24975 in pencil verso).
Sir Lawrence Gowing (1918-1991), London; then by descent in the family.
A fine, early and delicate impression, in a rare colour variant.
The Hand and Flower watermark found in the present impression has been recorded by Takahatake in early impressions of Ugo da Carpis Hercules chasing Avarice (version B, B. 12) and the Massacre of the Innocents (B. 8), both dated circa 1520-27.
The attribution of this unsigned print was first proposed by Giorgio Vasari, who listed it among the four that Antonio da Trento produced in close collaboration with Parmigianino between 1527 and 1530 (see discussion of this print in Takahatake, The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy, 2018, p. 105).
