| Title: |
A Man's Head in Profile |
| Engraver: |
Vivares, Thomas (London, 1735 - 1821) |
| Designer: |
Michelangelo 'Michelangelo Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni' (Caprese, 1475 - Rome, 1564) |
| Date: |
1818 (1823 Edition) |
| Medium: |
Original Soft Ground Etching |
| Publisher: |
Taylor and Hessey, 13, Waterloo Place, and 93, Fleet-Street, London |
| Printer: |
J. Mc Creery, Tooks-Court, Chancery-Lane, London |
| Source: |
The Italian School of Design (Compiled by William Young Ottley) |
| Note: |
Thomas Vivares: An eighteenth and early nineteenth century
British engraver, Thomas Vivares studied engraving under under his father, the artist Francois Vivares (Saint-Jean-du-Bruel,France, 1709 – London, 1780).. It is a wonder that this elder
Vivares had time for any teaching as it is reputed that thomas was but
one of thirty-one children in the Vivares family, Nevertheless, Thomas
Vivares showed early promise as an engraver and was awarded a prize from
the society of Arts in 1761. Thomas Vivares gained his reputation largely upon
his figure studies and architectural plates. He exhibited at both the
royal Academy and the Society of Artists from 1764. some of his best work
was created at a time in life when most persons are incapable. Michelangelo's A Man's
Head in Profile, for example was completed when Thomas Vivares was eighty-three. The Royal Academy of Arts, London includes an impression of this original soft ground etching in its collection. Object Number: 17/4037. |
| |
Michelangelo 'Michelangelo Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni':
Along with Leonardo and Raphael, Michelangelo stands at the forefront
of High Renaissance art. A superb painter, sculptor and architect, Michelangelo Buonarroti
lived and worked in both Florence and Rome. His masterworks in sculpture
include the Pieta, David and Moses, while his frescoes for the Sistine
Chapel ("The Last Judgment" and "The Creation of Man") are arguably the most
famous paintings of all time. Michelangelo Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (Michelangelo) was born in Caprese, 1475
and died in Rome, 1564. |
| |
Of Michelangelo’s drawings Jakob Rosenberg states, “Even
though small in number, the drawings give a distinct impression of Michelangelo’s
unique quality and of his development as a draughtsman. There are no
signs that he drew for drawing’s sake, as one sometimes feels with
Leonardo, certainly with Durer and Rembrandt, Watteau and Goya. But to
Michelangelo, as a true Florentine, drawing was a vital function in the
artistic process and is always expressive of a significant stage in his
creations. Even the rare very finished drawings do not lack his basic
qualities of strength and articulation, or grandeur of vision.” ** |
| |
William Young Ottley: Born in Thatcham, England, 1771, William Ottley will forever be remembered both as an artist and as an art scholar. Having studied art under Cuitt and then in the Schools of the Royal Academy, London, William Ottley went to Italy in 1791 where he resided for ten years, researching and collecting works of Renaissance art. During his life Ottley became the greatest authority on the art of the Italian Renaissance and, upon returning to London, published a number of portfolios and books upon this subject. Apart from the biographical and scholarly information William Young Ottley unearthed, the most valuable product of his researches was the meticulously detailed and artistic etchings and engravings he published. Either in their large folio size or in the smaller miniatures, these outstanding masterpieces of original printmaking have been admired for almost two centuries. Later in his life (1833), William Young Ottley was appointed to the prestigious post of Keeper of the Prints for the British Museum. |
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The literary contributions of William Young Ottley included such works as, "The Italian School Of Design" (1808-1823), "An Inquiry Into The Origin And Early History of Engraving, Upon copper and in Wood, With An Account of Engravers And Their Works, From The Invention of Chalcography By Maso Finiguerra, To The Time of Marc' Antonio Raimondi", 2 volumes, (1816), "Engravings Of The Most Noble The Marquis Of Stafford's Collection Of Pictures, In London, Arranged According To Schools, And In Chronological Order, With Remarks On Each Picture,", 3 vols. (1818), "A Series of Plates, Engraved After The Paintings And Sculptures Of The Most Eminent Masters Of The Early Florentine School"; (1826), "A Descriptive Catalogue of The Pictures In The National Gallery" (1826), "The Original and Early History of Engraving", 2 volumes (1826), and "A Collection of One Hundred and Twenty-Nine Fac-Similes of Scarce and Curious Prints, By the Early Masters of the Italian, German, and Flemish Schools" (1828). Then in (1831), Ottley authored, "Notices of Engravers, and Their Works: Being The Commencement of a New Dictionary, Which it is Not Intended Continue, Containing Some Account of Upwards of Three Hundred Masters...", and "An Enquiry Concerning the Invention of Printing" was published posthumously (1863). A Man's Head in Profile by Thomas Vivares etched after a drawing by Michelangelo Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni hails from William Young Ottley's portfolio entitled, The Italian School of Design published by Taylor and Hessey, 13, Waterloo Place, and 93, Fleet-Street, London in 1823. |
| |
Of all William Young Ottley's works of art, The Italian School of Design stands as his paramount achievement. Concentrating upon the drawings in his own collection by such masters of the High Renaissance as Raphaele, Correggio, the Carraccis, Salvator Rosa and other early Italian artists, William Ottley began work on his major opus as early as 1808, publishing etchings and engravings in monthly parts and concluding the work in 1823. Altogether the completed portfolio contained eighty-four plates, engraved by such eminent artists as Luigi Schiavonetti (1765 - 1810), Thomas Vivares (1735 - 1821), William Long (act. early 19th c.), Giovanni Vendramini (1769 - 1839), J. Perry, John Romney (1786 - 1863), Ignace Joseph de Claussen (1769 95 - 1844), William Young Ottley (1771 - 1836), Frederick Christian Lewis (1779 - 1856), and his younger brother, George Lewis (1782 - 1871), and others. The utmost care was taken with each engraved work, with the artists often venturing into the most complex mediums, such as stippling, soft-ground and aquatint. William Young Ottley himself supervised the progress of each etching. These original etchings revolutionized British trends in art and had a profound impact upon the art of the Pre-Raphaelites in the later nineteenth century. An original soft ground etching, A Man's Head in Profile was etched in 1818 by Thomas Vivares for William Young Ottley's portfolio entitled, The Italian School of Design published by Taylor and Hessey, 13, Waterloo Place, and 93, Fleet-Street, London in 1823. The Royal Academy of Arts (RA), London includes an impression of "A Man's Head in Profile" from the 1823 “The Italian School of Design” edition in its collection (Object number:17/4037). |
| Reference: |
* & ** Jakob Rosenberg, "Great Draughtsmen
from Pisanello to Picasso", Harper & Row, New York, 1974, pp. 51 & 52. |
| Size: |
14 X 10 1/4 (Sizes in inches are approximate,
height preceding width of plate-mark or image.) |
| |
UnMatted |
| Condition: |
Printed upon 'Whatman' watermarked paper and with wide, full margins as created by Thomas Vivares in 1818 for William Young Ottley's portfolio entitled, The Italian School of Design published by Taylor and Hessey, 13, Waterloo Place, and 93, Fleet-Street, London in 1823.. Inscribed, "Michelangelo Buonarroti - Published May 1,1818 by W. Y. Ottley, Kensington - Thomas Vivaris Sct". It is a brilliant sepia impression bearing all the fine lines and tonal values of a very early impression and in excellent condition throughout. This original Thomas Vivares engraving represents a prime example of the art the Italian School of Design. |
| Subject: |
Thomas Vivares, Michelangelo 'Michelangelo Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni', A
Man's Head in Profile, original soft ground etching, High Renaissance
art, Michelangelo's drawings, William Young Ottley, London. |
| Price: |
Sold - The price is no longer available. |
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