Disegni Del Mantegna
Print
1795-7 (printed)
1795-7 (printed)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Despite Francecso Novelli’s series of prints being titled ‘Disegni Del Mantegna’, the drawings which the engravings are based upon are in fact those produced by Italian painter and draughtsman Marco Zoppo. Discovered in Padua during the eighteenth century, the drawings were wrongly attributed to Andrea Mantegna by Novelli, resulting in him producing his series of prints in regards to Mantegna. The title-page of the series features a bust portrait of Mantegna, as well as an inscription praising the artist, whilst a majority of the plates feature Mantegna’s name as the draughtsman. The collection of drawings, which are now held in the collection of the British Museum, were considered to be the work of Mantegna until 1923, when Claude Phillips instigated the notion that the drawings could have in fact been produced by Zoppo. Although fifty drawings in pen and ink on parchment by Zoppo are featured in the volume, the collection of engravings by Novelli contains forty-four plates, with a frontispiece, and two pages of dedication featured alongside. Despite the dedication noting that the series contained fifty plates, only forty-four were produced. The series would have originally been issued as loose plates, so the card portfolio that the plates are now bound within would have been a later addition.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Disegni Del Mantegna (series title) |
Materials and techniques | printer's ink, paper, engraving |
Brief description | Plate 17 from Francesco Novelli's 'Disegni Del Mantegna', depicting two pairs of putti wrestling, with several men behind. |
Physical description | Engraving of two paris of putti wrestling, with several men in the background, three of which watch the putti. Production names are inscribed in lower corners. |
Dimensions |
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Content description | Two pairs of putti are depicted wrestling in the foreground, with three men standing behind watching. Beyond, three soldiers in classical attire march in front of a wall. A classical setting fills the background, with Tuscan columns and an archway visible to the left. |
Style | |
Marks and inscriptions |
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Subjects depicted | |
Association | |
Summary | Despite Francecso Novelli’s series of prints being titled ‘Disegni Del Mantegna’, the drawings which the engravings are based upon are in fact those produced by Italian painter and draughtsman Marco Zoppo. Discovered in Padua during the eighteenth century, the drawings were wrongly attributed to Andrea Mantegna by Novelli, resulting in him producing his series of prints in regards to Mantegna. The title-page of the series features a bust portrait of Mantegna, as well as an inscription praising the artist, whilst a majority of the plates feature Mantegna’s name as the draughtsman. The collection of drawings, which are now held in the collection of the British Museum, were considered to be the work of Mantegna until 1923, when Claude Phillips instigated the notion that the drawings could have in fact been produced by Zoppo. Although fifty drawings in pen and ink on parchment by Zoppo are featured in the volume, the collection of engravings by Novelli contains forty-four plates, with a frontispiece, and two pages of dedication featured alongside. Despite the dedication noting that the series contained fifty plates, only forty-four were produced. The series would have originally been issued as loose plates, so the card portfolio that the plates are now bound within would have been a later addition. |
Bibliographic reference | 260
Popham, A E; Pouncey, Philip, The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, London, BMP, 1950 |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.767-1903 |
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Record created | June 30, 2009 |
Record URL |
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