A Collection of One Hundred and Twenty-Nine Fac-Similes of Scarce and Curious Prints; By the Early Masters of the Italian, German, and Flemish Schools Illustrative of the History of Engraving, from the Invention of the Art, by Maso Finiguerra, in t

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1828 Excerpt: ...this, the art of engraving in chiaroscuro appears to have fallen into disuse in Italy, until the close of the sixteenth century, when it was practised by Andrea Andreani; who, besides that he engraved several excellent pieces himself, appears to have collected together the blocks of most of the older artists above mentioned, and to have republished them with the addition of his own monogram. Towards the middle of the following century, an artist of Bologna, named Coriolanus, executed several meritorious chiaroscuros after the drawings of Guido; after which period, little of the kind of any consequence appears to have been produced, whether in Italy or elsewhere, until the time of Zannetti, a Venetian gentleman, who, between the years I720 and 1740, again made a laudable, and not wholly unsuccessful effort to restore the art. or THE INVENTION or CHALCOGRAPHY BY M ASO FINIGUERRA. CONCERNING the process used in engraving on copper, it will be sufficient for us to repeat, that, in this art, every line or touch, which is meant to be dark in the impressions afterwards to be taken from the engraved plate on paper, is cut into the copper; the plate being thus hollowed in all the parts intended to receive the printing ink;-in which respect it is exactly the reverse of wood.engraving; wherein those parts, and those only, which are intended to receive the ink, and to print dark in the impression, are left untouched by the artist, presenting an even projecting surface. The method of printing copper-plates is briefly this: The plate, when finished by the engraver, is dabbed all over with black oil-colour, of a very thick consistency, until all the work is entirely filled; the superfluous colour is then carefully wiped away from the polished surface of the plate; and, la...