Pinacotheca Hamptoniana
Print
1719 (published), 1725-1750 (bookbinding), 1705-1719 (printed)
1719 (published), 1725-1750 (bookbinding), 1705-1719 (printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This book of engravings reproduces in reverse the so-called Raphael Cartoons, seven full size designs for tapestries by the great Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). The cartoons illustrate passages from the Bible concerning the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. None of them is smaller than ten feet high by thirteen feet wide. They belong to Her Majesty the Queen and have been on loan to this museum since 1865. The earliest print relating to the Raphael Cartoons dates from 1516, the year in which Raphael received final payment for the commission. It inaugurates an extraordinary case study in the history of printmaking, stretching over more than four hundred and fifty years and across a wide range of printmaking techniques.
Nicholas Dorigny's prints were the subject of an editorial in the 'Spectator' on the 19th November 1711. "These invaluable pieces are very justly in the Hands of the greatest and most pious sovereign in the World; and cannot be the frequent object of every one at their own leisure; but an engraver is to a painter, what a printer is to an author it is worthy Her Majesty's name, that she has encouraged that noble artist Monsieur Dorigny to publish these works of Raphael." Writing in 1722 about the works of Raphael in Rome, Jonathan Richardson said "That I should write upon what I never saw may appear strange to some; Such may please only to observe that My remarks are chiefly upon the way of thinking itself."
The engraver and antiquarian George Vertue had met and spoken with Dorigny. Vertue records that "several gentlemen of note travelling to Rome there found Mr Dorigny who was then in the highest reputation for several engraved works after Raphael. These got him justly the reputation of the first engraver in Europe for which reason several Curious persons persuaded & engaged him to come to England to undertake those Famous Cartons at Hampton Court painted by Raphael...From his coming to England [in 1711] I may justly date the rise of the reputation of the engraving."
The first proposal was that Dorigny engrave the Cartoons for the exclusive use of Queen Anne as presents for the nobility and visiting diplomats. Dorigny's price for the work of £4000-£5000 meant this idea was quashed and the prints were sold by subscription at four guineas a set. Dorigny was provided with limited royal patronage in the form of lodgings at Hampton Court, coals, and a bottle of wine a day.
The lettering in this set of prints is entirely in Latin underlining how they were aimed at an elite educated market. Listed are the titles, biblical quotations, details of the lcoations of the Cartoons and their sizes.
Queen Anne had died while Dorigny was still at work. On the first of April 1719 Dorigny presented to King George I two sets of his newly completed prints of the Cartoons. On the 13th June 1720 Dorigny received a knighthood. He was the first of only two individuals in the history of British art to be knighted for having made particular prints. The other was Sir Robert Strange, knighted in 1787 for an engraving of Benjamin West's 'Apotheosis of the Princes Octavius and Alfred'.
Nicholas Dorigny's prints were the subject of an editorial in the 'Spectator' on the 19th November 1711. "These invaluable pieces are very justly in the Hands of the greatest and most pious sovereign in the World; and cannot be the frequent object of every one at their own leisure; but an engraver is to a painter, what a printer is to an author it is worthy Her Majesty's name, that she has encouraged that noble artist Monsieur Dorigny to publish these works of Raphael." Writing in 1722 about the works of Raphael in Rome, Jonathan Richardson said "That I should write upon what I never saw may appear strange to some; Such may please only to observe that My remarks are chiefly upon the way of thinking itself."
The engraver and antiquarian George Vertue had met and spoken with Dorigny. Vertue records that "several gentlemen of note travelling to Rome there found Mr Dorigny who was then in the highest reputation for several engraved works after Raphael. These got him justly the reputation of the first engraver in Europe for which reason several Curious persons persuaded & engaged him to come to England to undertake those Famous Cartons at Hampton Court painted by Raphael...From his coming to England [in 1711] I may justly date the rise of the reputation of the engraving."
The first proposal was that Dorigny engrave the Cartoons for the exclusive use of Queen Anne as presents for the nobility and visiting diplomats. Dorigny's price for the work of £4000-£5000 meant this idea was quashed and the prints were sold by subscription at four guineas a set. Dorigny was provided with limited royal patronage in the form of lodgings at Hampton Court, coals, and a bottle of wine a day.
The lettering in this set of prints is entirely in Latin underlining how they were aimed at an elite educated market. Listed are the titles, biblical quotations, details of the lcoations of the Cartoons and their sizes.
Queen Anne had died while Dorigny was still at work. On the first of April 1719 Dorigny presented to King George I two sets of his newly completed prints of the Cartoons. On the 13th June 1720 Dorigny received a knighthood. He was the first of only two individuals in the history of British art to be knighted for having made particular prints. The other was Sir Robert Strange, knighted in 1787 for an engraving of Benjamin West's 'Apotheosis of the Princes Octavius and Alfred'.
Object details
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| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Engraving and etching on paper, bound in volume, gold-tooled binding |
| Brief description | Subscriber's set of Pinacotheca Hamptoniana by Sir Nicholas Dorigny (1657-1746), from cartoons by Raphael for the tapestries in the Sistine Chapel, etching and engraving, British, 1719, in an 18th century binding The V&A holds two other sets of the Pinacotheca Hamptoniana; see Museum Nos. 20282 to 20289 and Dyce.2560 to Dyce.2566. |
| Physical description | Book containing etchings and engravings organised as double page spreads, each blank on reverse. Order of plates: 1. Title-page to Pinacotheca Hamptoniana; 2-7 the Raphael Cartoons - The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, Christ's Charge to Peter, The Healing of the Lame Man, The Death of Ananias, The Blinding of Elymas, The Sacrifice at Lystra. Two additional plates by Dorigny, The Descent from the Cross (Deposition) and The Transfiguration, follow at the end. The engravings are in reverse of the cartoons from which they are derived but faithfully reproduce the compositional details of the originals. Bound in Russian leather gilt tooled in "Harleian" style with a central lozenge made up of many small tools. The boards decorated at the edges with a border of three rolls, the central one of insects. The binding is lettered on the spine in capitals 'Raphael's Cartoons'. A bookplate of Frances Mary Richardson Currer (1765-1861) is stuck inside the front board. The Deposition signed Eq. Nicolaus Dorigny del. et Sculp., dated 1710 and lettered with artist's name and dedication and Romae cum priu. S. Pont. et Reg. Chr. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | Beautiful Gate of the Temple of Jerusalem |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Object history | From departmental notes: 'A note in pencil on the front of the volume probably dating from the early twentieth century claims on the basis of the style of the binding and the fact that Edward Harly, Earl of Oxford (1689-1741) was one of Dorigny's patrons that this volume from his library. This is not necessarily the case.' |
| Historical context | Set of prints of the Raphael Cartoons in 18th century binding by Sir Nicholas Dorigny. Subscriber's set of Pinacotheca Hamptoniana, the Raphael Cartoons, The Deposition after Daniele da Volterra and the Transfiguration after Raphael (B.N. Fonds 100-107, 95, 89) |
| Production | The prints of the Raphael Cartoons lack the lettering 'Eq', present on the other two prints, signifying the knighthood bestowed on Dorigny as a reward for engraving the Cartoons. This suggests that the prints of the Cartoons are a set issued to a subscriber for four guineas before the knighthood was awarded, whereas the other two prints in the volume are later impressions of these prints, printed some years after they were originally engraved, and after Dorigny had received his knighthood. |
| Subjects depicted | Healing Miracle Sacrifice Fish Birds Fishing Vessels Flowers (Plants) Shells Crowd Scenes Palace Landscapes (Representations) Fishermen (People) Key to Heaven Sandals Clothing, Costume Sheep Spiral Columns Lamps (Lighting Devices) Putti Foliation (Pattern) Ornament Columns (Architectural Elements) Niche Arches Throne Laurel Crown Trophies (Motif) Boots Shoes (Footwear) Clothing, Costume Interior Views Classical Statues Axe Bulls (Animal) Ram Boxes (Containers) Townscapes (Representations) Altar Rotundas Ladders Pincers Soldiers Book Scrolls Drapes Raphael Cartoons Jesus Christ Peter (Saint) The Disciples John (Saint John the Evangelist) Ananias Barnabas (Saint) Paul (Saint) Paulus, Sergius Elymas Virgin Mary Salome, Mary Mary Magdalen (Magdalene) Elijah Moses James (Saint, the Greater) Descent From the Cross Transfiguration, The Miraculous Draught of Fishes |
| Places depicted | |
| Summary | This book of engravings reproduces in reverse the so-called Raphael Cartoons, seven full size designs for tapestries by the great Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). The cartoons illustrate passages from the Bible concerning the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. None of them is smaller than ten feet high by thirteen feet wide. They belong to Her Majesty the Queen and have been on loan to this museum since 1865. The earliest print relating to the Raphael Cartoons dates from 1516, the year in which Raphael received final payment for the commission. It inaugurates an extraordinary case study in the history of printmaking, stretching over more than four hundred and fifty years and across a wide range of printmaking techniques. Nicholas Dorigny's prints were the subject of an editorial in the 'Spectator' on the 19th November 1711. "These invaluable pieces are very justly in the Hands of the greatest and most pious sovereign in the World; and cannot be the frequent object of every one at their own leisure; but an engraver is to a painter, what a printer is to an author it is worthy Her Majesty's name, that she has encouraged that noble artist Monsieur Dorigny to publish these works of Raphael." Writing in 1722 about the works of Raphael in Rome, Jonathan Richardson said "That I should write upon what I never saw may appear strange to some; Such may please only to observe that My remarks are chiefly upon the way of thinking itself." The engraver and antiquarian George Vertue had met and spoken with Dorigny. Vertue records that "several gentlemen of note travelling to Rome there found Mr Dorigny who was then in the highest reputation for several engraved works after Raphael. These got him justly the reputation of the first engraver in Europe for which reason several Curious persons persuaded & engaged him to come to England to undertake those Famous Cartons at Hampton Court painted by Raphael...From his coming to England [in 1711] I may justly date the rise of the reputation of the engraving." The first proposal was that Dorigny engrave the Cartoons for the exclusive use of Queen Anne as presents for the nobility and visiting diplomats. Dorigny's price for the work of £4000-£5000 meant this idea was quashed and the prints were sold by subscription at four guineas a set. Dorigny was provided with limited royal patronage in the form of lodgings at Hampton Court, coals, and a bottle of wine a day. The lettering in this set of prints is entirely in Latin underlining how they were aimed at an elite educated market. Listed are the titles, biblical quotations, details of the lcoations of the Cartoons and their sizes. Queen Anne had died while Dorigny was still at work. On the first of April 1719 Dorigny presented to King George I two sets of his newly completed prints of the Cartoons. On the 13th June 1720 Dorigny received a knighthood. He was the first of only two individuals in the history of British art to be knighted for having made particular prints. The other was Sir Robert Strange, knighted in 1787 for an engraving of Benjamin West's 'Apotheosis of the Princes Octavius and Alfred'. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.656-1996 |
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| Record created | April 20, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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