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MARCO DENTE DA RAVENNA (AFTER RAPHAEL) Saint Bartholomew.
Engraving, circa 1520. 217x144 mm; 8¾x5¾ inches, thread margins. From Christ and Twelve Apostles. A brilliant, richly-inked and early impression of this very scarce engraving with strong contrasts and little to no sign of wear.
This engraving is from a series of thirteen prints representing Christ, eleven Apostles and St. Paul (generally referred to as the series of Christ and Twelve Apostles). Twelve red chalk drawings corresponding to the figures of the Apostles and St. Paul are now in the Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth House, Derbyshire Dales. Formerly considered as original designs by Raphael for the now-lost frescoes in the Sala dei Palafrenieri in the Vatican dating 1516-17 or as copies after such, the Chatsworth drawings are now commonly thought to have been made (perhaps by Giulio Romano) as modelli for the engravings.
Both Marcantonio Raimondi (1480-1534) and Marco Dente (1493-1527) produced sets of engravings of Christ and Twelve Apostles. Marco Dente's set (Bartsch 79-91) has generally been described as a repetition of Marcantonio's. Though it has also been suggested that Marcantonio may have actually based his series upon Marco Dente's.
Marco Dente was an Italian engraver born in Ravenna in the latter part of the 15th century. He was a prominent figure within the circle of printmakers around Marcantonio Raimondi in Rome, and is known for the highly-finished, imitative nature of the reproductive prints or close copies of other prints that were most of his output. His prints in specific cases are also of certain interest in that we can see the impact and design of sculptural restorations. Marco Dente was killed in the tumult of the Sack of Rome in 1527.
In this engraving, Saint Bartholomew is depicted with a beard and curly hair as at the time of his martyrdom and holding a curving knife, which is a symbol of his martyrdom. According to legend, Bartholomew was skinned alive and beheaded, thus often being depicted holding his flayed skin or the curved flensing knife with which he was skinned.
