Live Auction 21481Old Master and 19th Century Prints
ANTONIO DA TRENTO (CIRCA 1510–1550) AFTER PARMIGIANINO (1503-1540)
Lot 57 PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE SIR LAWRENCE GOWING

ANTONIO DA TRENTO (CIRCA 1510–1550) AFTER PARMIGIANINO (1503-1540)

Three chiaroscuro woodcuts

Closed24 January 2023

Estimate

USD 4,000–6,000

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ANTONIO DA TRENTO (CIRCA 1510–1550) AFTER PARMIGIANINO (1503-1540)
Three chiaroscuro woodcuts
including: The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist, printed from two blocks in grey and sand, circa 1527-30, on laid paper, watermark Hand and Flower (see Takahatake fig. 5, p. 272; similar to Briquet 10765, Genoa, circa 1524-27), a fine, early and delicate impression, in a rare colour variant, with narrow margins, in very good condition; and Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl, printed from two blocks in black and olive, circa 1527-30, on laid paper, watermark Letter F on Trimount in a Shield (Woodward 333, 1580), a very good but later impression of the second state (of three), with gaufrage, trimmed to the borderline, generally in good condition; and Virgin and Child with Saints Margaret, Jerome and Petronius, attributed to the same hand, printed from two blocks in black and mushroom, circa 1540s, on laid paper, without watermark, a very good, strong but later impression of the second, final state, reprinted by Andreani in circa 1602-10, with gaufrage, with narrow margins, in good condition
Block 190 x 237 mm., Sheet 194 x 240 mm. (B. 12)
Block & Sheet 346 x 265 mm. (B. 7)
Block 311 x 215 mm., Sheet 312 x 218 mm. (B. 24)
(3)

With Colnaghi & Co., London (their stocknumber C. 24975 in pencil verso) (B. 7).
Sir Lawrence Gowing (1918-1991), London; then by descent in the family.

Specialist note

Antonio da Trento's woodcut production is closely related to that of Ugo da Carpi, who presumably instructed him in the chiaroscuro technique. Following Ugo's time in Venice and Rome, where he created colour woodcuts after designs by Titian, Raphael and his circle, and then Parmigianino, he eventually moved to Bologna, capital of his native region Emilia Romagna. There he would work closely with Parmigianino in his Bolognese workshop. It was presumably here that he began working with Antonio da Trento and overseeing the cutting of the four woodcuts Antonio printed in Bologna. Two of these prints, Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl are offered in the present lot. (For another print of this period see previous lot.) The Virgin and Child is an example of ‘competent cutting and controlled printing technique associated with early impressions of the chiaroscuro woodcuts Antonio produced with Parmigianino’ (Takahatake, 2018, p. 105), rendered in a low-contrast, muted palette, achieved by printing a gray line block over a light sand-coloured tone block.
The Hand and Flower watermark found in the present impression has been recorded Takahatake in early impressions of Ugo da Carpi’s Hercules chasing Avarice (version B, B. 12) and the Massacre of the Innocents (B. 8), both dated circa 1520-27.