This print is based on an original design by Léonard Thiry, and it is a reverse copy by Virgil Solis after Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau’s prints from 1550. Solis was a prolific printmaker, whose workshop produced ornament prints intended for furniture decoration, jewelry and so on, as well as biblical illustrations. Solis borrowed from German and Italian engravers; this example shows him borrowing from Du Cerceau, who was French. Solis produced popular prints, and the antique theme in this print is typical of the time.
Place of Origin
Nuremberg, Germany (Printed)
Date
1550-1562 (Printed)
Artist/maker
thiry (After, Designer)
Solis, Virgil, born 1514 - died 1562 (Printmaker)
Materials and Techniques
Etching
Dimensions
Height: 14.6 cm Cut to, Width: 9.9 cm Cut to
Object history note
From the Lanna collection (1107; Sr 6410).
Historical context note
This print belongs to a set of thirteen engravings by Virgil Solis which is referred to as ‘the little book of architecture ruins’ in The Illustrated Bartsch (vol. 19, part 1, pp. 161-167; B. 352a and B. 354 missing in the V&A collections). Solis actually copied Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau’s Duodecim Fragmenta structurae veteris published in 1550 in Orleans. Both Du Cerceau and Solis praise Léonard Thiry, the artist who made the original drawings. Thiry was a Flemish artist who worked in Fontainebleau with Fiorentino Rosso. It is not established whether he went to Rome; he could very well have been inspired by the many prints showing views of Rome that circulated at the time. The antique theme, and the taste for views of ruins were indeed widespread in the 16th century.
Solis was a prolific printmaker, whose Nuremberg workshop produced ornament prints intended for furniture decoration, jewellery and so on, as well as biblical illustrations. Solis borrowed from German, Italian and French engravers. In the first print (The Illustrated Bartsch, p. 161, no. 352a), he explains that he has copied this set because it was unavailable in Germany: ' I have realized that it would be for the common good and that of all art lovers, if I were to publish it [...], so that our country would be as fortunate as the Italians and the French'.
Descriptive line
Léonard Thiry. One of 8 plates from a suite of 12 views of ruins entitled 'The Little Book of Architectural Ruins'. Published by Virgil Solis, Nuremberg, 1550-1562.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
de Jong, M. and de Groot, I., Ornamentprenten in het Rijksprentenkabinet I, 15de & 16de eeuw, ‘s-Gravenhage, 1988, no. 580.
See for full discussion and bibliography of the suite.
Peters, Jane S., ed. The Illustrated Bartsch, 19 (Part 1). German masters of the sixteenth century: Virgil Solis: Intaglio Prints and Woodcuts. New York: Abaris Books, 1985. No. 352-363.
Production Note
Reversed copy by Virgil Solis from a set engraved by Jacques Androuet Ducerceau after Léonard Thiry, published in 1550.
Materials
Paper; Printing ink
Techniques
Etching
Subjects depicted
Ruins; Rome; Architecture; Boat; Columns
Categories
Prints; Ornament prints
Collection code
PDP
