Correggio, Engraved by H. Meyer after the Painter's Head at Parma, circa 1870
€ 145
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1870
Mapmaker / artist
H. Meyer (engraver), after a head by Correggio
Publisher
William Mackenzie, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and New York
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
28 × 18 cm (11.0 × 7.1 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14343-23
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Good condition for its age. A few small spots to the margins; small crease at the right edge, clear of the image. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
An original nineteenth century engraved portrait of the Italian Renaissance painter Antonio Allegri, called Correggio, lettered "Correggio" below the image and "Engraved by H. Meyer after a head by himself in the Cathedral of Parma" beneath the plate.
The painter is shown at half length in profile to the left, a bearded man with a high forehead, wearing a dark fur lined cloak with a white collar. He holds a brush in his right hand and looks down at a painting propped before him, where a group of putti can be made out in soft light at the left edge. The background is a deep, evenly worked field of dark tone that isolates the head and the hands. As the lettering records, the likeness follows a head long believed to be the painter's own, among the figures of his frescoes in the cathedral at Parma.
Correggio (about 1489 to 1534) worked chiefly in Parma, where his illusionistic dome frescoes for San Giovanni Evangelista and for the cathedral, with their spiraling clouds of figures, set a pattern for Baroque ceiling painting. His soft modeling and tender light were admired by collectors and painters from the seventeenth century onward.
The engraver is lettered as H. Meyer, the London engraver Henry Meyer, and the publisher's line at the foot reads "William Mackenzie, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, and New York" (lettered with an ampersand). Mackenzie issued illustrated reference and biographical works in parts with full page portraits, and the New York address belongs to his later imprints.
The plate is finely engraved, with velvety blacks in the cloak and background and delicate stipple in the face. It frames well with a wide mat, alone or in a group of portraits of artists, and makes a fitting picture for a studio, a library or an art lover's study.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
