Varied Subjects
Etienne Delaune (1519-1583),Varied Subjects, engravings, circa 1560, the set of 12. Reference: Robert-Dumesnil 237-248, only states. The set includes 12 individual impressions on 12 sheets, each plate trimmed to the borderline and pressed on a backing sheet (engraved on 6 plates originally), 4 circular, 8 ovals, approximately 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 inches across.
Provenance:
ex Collection: Dr. Karl Herweg (Lugt 3974, with his stamp verso on each print). Dr. Herweg was advised on his acquisitions by Dr. Eduard Trautschold of C.G. Boerner, Dusseldorf. The prints remain in Herweg’s matting. They were purchased at Herweg’s sale at Sotheby’s London, 2003.
Fine clear impressions of these great rarities.
Impressions include (Robert-Dumesnil numbers)
237 – Roman soldiers before a prince seated on a throne
238 – Cincinnatus with Romans
239 – Women and a soldier hurry to help a young girl who has fainted in their arms.
240 – A man in a turban fights “un basilic”
241 – La jeune Atys
242 – An angry prince raises a young man in the air to throw him in the water
243 – Diane and nymphs
244 – Warrier climbs a rock full of beasts, perhaps Aeneas finding the road to Hell
245 – 2 women in a temple consecrated to Diana of the Hunt
246 – La Continence de Scipio
247 – A princess offers a sacrifice in presence of Neptune
248 – A queen totally nude falls before soldiers who came to murder an old man in his bed (!)
Delaune, trained as a goldsmith, was the pre-eminent master of the 16th Century French Renaissance school of ornamental and architectural engraving. His earliest work was done in metal as an employee of the mint; in his middle and later years he focused more on small format printmaking, especially on mythological or Old Testament subjects done in series, such as this one.
Here are enlarged illustrations of the last two prints listed above, i.e., 248 – A queen totally nude falls before soldiers who came to murder an old man in his bed, and 247, A princess offers a sacrifice in the presence of Neptune:
