Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Jean Mignon(France active circa 1535-circa 1555). After Luca Penni (Italy 1500-1556). “The Judgment of Paris”. Etching on laid paper, with a small fleur-de-lys watermark, S. 31.2×42.7 cm.
Bartsch 72 (as Anonymus); Zerner 40. Circa 1544-1545.



According to the British Museum, London, where there is another impression of this etching, this is the first plate, “From a set of six works representing various episodes from the Trojan war. Although sometimes adapted from plates engraved by Marcantonio after Raphael, the original compositions are nevertheless attributed to Penni. For a discussion of these sources, see Cordellier, Luca Penni. Un disciple de Raphal Fontainebleau’, Paris 2012, pages 47-59.

The Muse du Louvre keeps the original drawing for the present etching (inventory number 1395) though, in the present case, the landscape is Mignon’s own invention. Also see ‘cole de Fontainebleau’, Paris 1972, catalogue number 413.

Penni’s Judgment of Paris’ in turn derives most directly from Marcantonio’s famous engraving after Raphael (see Bartsch 245).

PROVENANCE
The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).

Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617). “The Life of the Virgin”. Each signed with the monogram in the plate. The complete set of six engravings, on laid paper, each S. approximately 49.0×37.0 cm.
Bartsch 15-20; Hollstein 9-14. 1593-1594.

”The Annunciation” from the second state, of five, on laid paper with a six-pointed star in a circle watermark. “The Visitation” from the third state, of five. “The Adoration of the Shepherds” from the third state, of five, on laid paper with a small pointed star in a diamond shape in a circle watermark. “The Circumcision” from the third state, of five, on laid paper with a six-pointed star in a circle watermark. “The Adoration of the Magi” from the second state, of five, on laid paper with a small pointed star in a diamond shape in a circle watermark. “The Holy Family” from the third state, of five, on laid paper with a six-pointed star in a circle watermark.

PROVENANCE
Dr. C. Axel Wistrand (Sweden 1866-1956), each with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 2630a); The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).

Bartolomeo Biscaino(Italy 1632-1657). “Moses Rescued from the Nile”. Signed BISCAIVS GENOVSIS F. in the plate. Etching on laid paper, with an indiscernible watermark, S. 19.6×25.0 cm.
Bartsch 2, from the third state, of eight, with the address of the publisher Daman. Circa 1655.

PROVENANCE
The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).

Giulio Romano (Italy circa 1499-1546). “Christ Nailed to the Cross” (after), engraved by Ferdinando Bertelli (born 1525). Signed f. Bertelli f. and IV RO IN in the plate. Engraving on laid paper, with the letter C in a double circle with a cross watermark, S. 30.0×43.5 cm.
Meyer 5; Nagler 3. Circa 1540-1550.

PROVENANCE
The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).

Francesco Salviati (Italy 1510-1563) (after), by Girolamo Fagiuoli, Italy (active 1530-1574). “The Death of Meleager”. Engraving on laid paper, with an anchor in a circle watermark, S. 43.3×32.8 cm.
Bartsch 41 from the first state, of five, as published by Salamanca. 1543.

This print was formerly thought to be by Nicolas Beatrizet (France and Italy 1507-1565), though more recently it has been convincingly attributed to Girolamo Fagiuoli by Suzanne Boorsch and Bernard Barryte in Myth, Allegory and Faith, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, 2015, page 110, catalogue number 71.

PROVENANCE
The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).

Viewers of this vigorous and sculptural engraving are invited into the scene by the extended paw of the hunting dog, which breaks out of the pictures frame at the lower left. The hound barks at a fractured frenzy of bulging muscles and twisting hair centered upon the dying man. The dense, claustrophobic composition heightens the terrible drama of the scene. The dying figure is the ancient Greek hero Meleager, and his story underscores the primacy of family loyalty in Greek culture. At his birth, the Fates decreed that Meleager would live only until a burning log was consumed. His mother removed the log from the fire to grant him immortality, but when he killed her brothers over a dispute relating to the Caledonian boar hunt (seen in the background), she threw the log back on the fire. Girolamo Faccioli was only recently suggested as the author of this print. A goldsmith as well as an engraver, his skill and training is evident in the forceful parallel lines that delineate the richly modeled forms. [note from St. Louis Art Museum]

Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italy 1475-1564) (after), by Nicolas Beatrizet, France and Italy (1507-1565). Tityus. Signed MICH A.B. INVENT in the plate. Engraving on laid paper, with an anchor or fleur-de-lys in a circle watermark, S. 28.6×37.1 cm.
Bartsch 39, an early impression with the guidelines for the text in the lower margin and the vertical wiping marks distinct, as published by Salamanca. Circa 1540-1566.This engraving is based on Michelangelo’s drawing of the same subject in the Royal Collection, Windsor (Inventory number RCIN 912771).

PROVENANCE
Josef Viktor Kuderna (Austria 1886-1952), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 1626a); The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).

In a myth recounted in Ovids Metamorphoses, the giant Tityus was punished for attempting to rape Lato, mother of Apollo and Diana, by being chained to a rock in Hades. Every day a vulture would rip out his liver, the seat of lust; every night the liver would grow back, for the torment to be repeated the next day, for all eternity.

Nicolas Beatrizet,France and Italy 1507-1565. After Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italy 1475-1564). Tityus. Signed MICH A.B. INVENT in the plate. Engraving on laid paper, with an anchor or fleur-de-lys in a circle watermark, S. 28.6×37.1 cm.
Bartsch 39, an early impression with the guidelines for the text in the lower margin and the vertical wiping marks distinct, as published by Salamanca. Circa 1540-1566.This engraving is based on Michelangelo’s drawing of the same subject in the Royal Collection, Windsor (Inventory number RCIN 912771).

PROVENANCE
Josef Viktor Kuderna (Austria 1886-1952), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 1626a); The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).

In a myth recounted in Ovids Metamorphoses, the giant Tityus was punished for attempting to rape Lato, mother of Apollo and Diana, by being chained to a rock in Hades. Every day a vulture would rip out his liver, the seat of lust; every night the liver would grow back, for the torment to be repeated the next day, for all eternity.

Francesco Salviati (Italy 1510-1563) (after), by Nicolas Beatrizet France and Italy (1507-1565). “The Sacrifice of Iphigenia”. Signed N. BEATRIZET LOTARINGVS F. in the plate. Engraving on laid paper, with a shield with the letter M and a six-pointed star watermark, S. 33.2 x 44.8 cm.

Bartsch 43 from the first state, of two, with the address of the publisher Tramezini. 1553.

Provenance
The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).

In Greek mythology, Iphigenia was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae. In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by hunting and killing one of Artemis’s sacred stags. She retaliates by preventing the Greek troops from reaching Troy unless Agamemnon kills his eldest daughter, Iphigenia, at Aulis as a human sacrifice. In some versions, Iphigenia dies at Aulis, and in others, Artemis rescues her.

Nicolas Beatrizet,France and Italy (1507-1565). After Francesco Salviati (Italy 1510-1563). Signed N. BEATRIZET LOTARINGVS F. in the plate. Engraving on laid paper, with a shield with the letter M and a six-pointed star watermark, S. 33.2×44.8 cm.
Bartsch 43 from the first state, of two, with the address of the publisher Tramezini. 1553.

PROVENANCE
The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).

In Greek mythology, Iphigenia was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae. In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by hunting and killing one of Artemis’s sacred stags. She retaliates by preventing the Greek troops from reaching Troy unless Agamemnon kills his eldest daughter, Iphigenia, at Aulis as a human sacrifice. In some versions, Iphigenia dies at Aulis, and in others, Artemis rescues her.

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Italy 1483-1520) (after), by Gian Giacomo CaraglioItaly 1505-1565. The Battle with a Shield on a Lance. Signed I IACOBVS VER F in the plate. Engraving on blue laid paper, with an indiscernible watermark, S. 33.0×48.3 cm, remargined.
Bartsch 59. Circa 1527.

PROVENANCE
Johann Andreas Boerner (Germany 1785-1862), with the inscription and dated 1831 in ink verso (Lugt 270); Karl Ewald Hasse (Germany 1810-1902), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 860); The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).