Pinacotheca Hamptoniana
Print
late 17th - early 18th century (made)
late 17th - early 18th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This image represents the moment when Ananias is struck down and dies after lying to Saint Peter about the proportion of money he is donating to the Church.
The so-called Raphael Cartoons, which this print reproduces, are seven full size designs for tapestries by the great Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). They 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. This print is in reverse of the cartoon from which it is derived, and is therefore in the same direction as the tapestry.
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 obeserve 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'.
The so-called Raphael Cartoons, which this print reproduces, are seven full size designs for tapestries by the great Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). They 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. This print is in reverse of the cartoon from which it is derived, and is therefore in the same direction as the tapestry.
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 obeserve 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
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | etching and engraving on paper |
| Brief description | The Death of Ananias by Sir Nicholas Dorigny (1657-1746); from a cartoon by Raphael for the tapestries in the Sistine Chapel; etching and engraving; British; 1719. The V&A holds two other sets of the Pinacotheca Hamptoniana; see Museum No. E.656-1996 (bound volume) and Museum Nos. 20282 to 20289. |
| Physical description | Ananias lies dying on the left of the foreground. To the right a man and woman react in horror. On a raised platform in the centre background a group of men stand, Saint Peter in the middle passing judgement on Ananias. In the background left people are carrying goods or counting money and on the right a man is handing money over to one of the men on the platform. A couple leave via steps to the right of the background; over the staircase is a window through which an onlooker watches the scene. Through a square opening on the left is a landscape with tree. This print is in reverse of the cartoon from which it is derived but is faithful in compositional detail. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce |
| Production | later impression, first printed 1719 |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Literary reference | Bible, Acts, 5, verses 3 & 5 |
| Summary | This image represents the moment when Ananias is struck down and dies after lying to Saint Peter about the proportion of money he is donating to the Church. The so-called Raphael Cartoons, which this print reproduces, are seven full size designs for tapestries by the great Italian Renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). They 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. This print is in reverse of the cartoon from which it is derived, and is therefore in the same direction as the tapestry. 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 obeserve 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'. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | 55 - Manuel de l'Amateur d'Estampes par Ch. Le Blanc. Paris, 1854-6. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | DYCE.2563 |
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| Record created | April 8, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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