?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 5,000
FEDERICO BAROCCI St. Francis in the Chapel (Vision of St. Francis).
Etching and engraving, 1581. 540x322 mm; 21 1/4x12 3/4 inches, narrow margins. First state (of 2), before the rework and address of Scolari. Fleur-de-lys in a circle watermark (Woodward 98, which dates from the late 1500s). A brilliant, richly-inked impression, with no sign of wear and very strong contrasts, with crisp, partially inky plate edges, consistent with the earliest impressions of this subject.
Barocci (1533-1612) is considered among the finest draughtsmen in Italian art history and during his time, one of the most esteemed painters. He is known primarily as an early Baroque altarpiece painter and for his adherence to realistic anatomy and his brilliant use of color, contrast and luminosity in his paintings. His techniques and engrossing compositions influenced a variety of artists such as Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669).
Barocci was born in Urbino, at that time a bustling cultural and intellectual center. Through his adolescence and young adulthood, he was exposed to the artistic influences of eminent Italian artists such as Correggio (1489-1534), Raphael (1483-1520) and Titian (1490-1578). Barocci was phenomenally successful and it is storied that while in Rome he was the victim of an attempted poisoning by another artist envious of his Papal commission. After this perilous incident, he returned to Urbino but still took on commissions locally and from afar. Bartsch 4.
