Dec 7, 2012 — non solo le faceva apparire stampate, ma venivano come disegnate di penna.’ 72 Ketelsen, ‘Der Widerstreit der Linien’, 213-214.
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Journal of Art Historiography Number 7 December 2012 Disegno versus Disegno stampato : print making theory in Vasari s Vite (1550 – 1568) in the context of the theory of disegno and the Disegni Barbara Stoltz On the back of a letter he had received from Cosimo Bartoli in 1564 , Giorgio Vasari compile d a list of ten enhancements to be made to the second edition of più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori , which was published four years later by Giunti. 1 Most of the se intent ion s were not brought to realization, for instance a project to write about Michelangelo finished marble sculpture s . However , t he theory of disegno , which is included in the list with the phrase Find out what , was incorporated in to the well – known revised version of Introduction to Painting . Agai n , under point eight Vasari wrote: The names of masters of copperplate , German, Italian, and French. The life of Marcantonio must be revis ed in order to put in all th ese . 2 Vasari fulfilled this aim literally: the chapter Life of Marcantonio Bolog nese (Marcantonio Raimondi) basically presents a history of European print s from their beginning until the second half of the 16 th century . T his text is therefore considered the first historical and theoretic al study of printmaking in the history of art. I n it, Vasari discusses about four hundred and fifty engravings and about fifty engrave r s over three generations , from Italy, The Netherland s , Germany and Flanders. 3 The topic of Vasari and prints has been examined by a vast corpus of research literature. One should mention for example the well – researched articles by Evelina Borea and David Landau and the contributions to the standard books on R enaissance print makin g by Landau/Parshall, Frank Büttner and of course Mich a el Bury. 4 Robert Getscher has recently published all the texts about prints from both Vite , together with illustrations of all the engravings mentioned 1 See Giorgio Vasari , Exh.cat, Arezzo, Florence: Edam, 1981, 233; and: Karl Frey (ed.) , Giorgio Vasari. Der literarische Nachlass , Hildesheim /New York : Olms, 1982 (reprint , Munich 192 3 ) , 3 vols., vol. 2, 77 – 79. (CDXLV, 29 April 1564). For another annota tion, again on a letter from Bartoli, see idem, vol.1, 613 – 622 (CCCXL, 17 April 1561). 2 Marcantonio Raimondi in the Life of Raphael in the first edition, or to a text for the second edition that he had already prepared and that he had decided to enhance. 3 See Edward J. Olschewski, Introduction , in: Robert H . Getscher, An Annotated and Illustrated Version of Prints from his Lives of the Artists ( 1550 & 1568), Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2003, 2 vols., vol.1, XVI. 4 in: Scritti in ricordo di Giovanni Previtali , special print, Prospettiva , 57/60 1989/1990,18 – 38; David in: The Oxford A rt J ournal , 6,1, 1983, 3 10; David Landau and Peter Parshall, The R enaissance P rint. 1470 – 1550 , New Haven /London : Yale Thesen zur Bedeutung der Druckgraphik in der italienischen in: Robert Stalla (ed), Druckgraphik: Funktion und Form , symposium, Kunsthistorisches Institut München, München /Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2001, 9 15; Michael Bury, The print in Italy . 1550 1620 , London: British Museum P ress, 2001.
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Barbara Stoltz Disegno versus Disegno stampato : 2 which can be identified . 5 generally recognized as one of the most important sources for underst anding the art of print making in the Renaissance, the research literature also focuses no part of the Vite shows such a huge amount of historical mistakes, contradictions , lack of information or technical inexperience as t he text about printmaking . F or instance, Vasari wrongly attributed Mart e Schongauer. One should also mention the notorious confusion between Germany and Flanders , since Vasari alternately refers to Albrecht Dürer as Ger man and Flemish. Borea harshly mention s that in some cases Vasari did not know the difference between sculpsit und invenit . 6 Why these mistakes occurred , whether Vasari kn ew the facts about the prints and whether he ignored them are method olog ical questio n s about ho w Vasari used his sources. This problem, o f course , concerns t he whole compilation of the Vite and both its editions , still representing a research desideratum . 7 For instance, the philological heterogene ity of the Vite , especially in the second edition, continues to be discussed. This is a n issue which falls together with the problem of errors and incongruities. This heterogeneity was not only caused by the different reviewer s of the Vite , such as Vincenzo Borghini (second edition ) and Paolo Giov io (first edition) , but also depends on the fact that Vasari incorporated received information about artists as entire texts or even entire chapter s . I n fact Charles Hope has proved that Vasari was a multiple author . 8 These aspects of the compilation of th e Vite are indubitably relevant to the question of Vasari printmaking. In fac t, in this article the subject of is approached in full consciousness of the problem of heterogeneity in Vite . N evertheless , Vasari must be assumed to be the chief editor of his Vite , and all its texts must be viewed as they were definit iv ely presented with all their contradictions , fully intentional ly , to the contemporary reader. This is p articularly a question of examin ing about print making beyond a negative list of omissions and errors . 9 And this is also the point from which this paper starts . The main question is what Vasari actually wrote about prints and how he included printmaking issues within his Vite texts. Therefor e , the paper begins by examining the first edition of Vite (A. Torrentiniana ) and then moves on to the second edition (B . Giuntina ) . In addition, the paper discusses the narrative techniques Vasari uses in his texts, 10 particularly in the texts about prints , in order to examine his attitude to the art of print making the subject entirely , in particular his definition of the printed image, a comparison between his theory o f print s and his theory of disegno is inevitable . Therefore , the paper view s 5 Getscher, 6 7 See: Katja Burzer [et al.] (eds.), Le Vite del Vasari. Genesi, topoi, ricezione/ Die Vite Vasaris. Entstehung, Topoi , Rezeption , symposium, Kunsthistorische s Institut in Florenz, Florence: Marsilio, 2010. 8 Vite , ed. by Anna Santoni, Pisa: Scuola Normale di Pisa, 2005 , 59 74. For deep studies of both editions of Vite, see for instance: Wolfgang Kallab, Vasaristudien , Vienna : Graeser, 1908. See also Carlo Maria Simonetti: La Vita delle Vite Vasariane. Profilo storico di due edizioni, Floren ce : Olschki, 2005. 9 Compare 10 Vite Lives and the art of storytelling, in: Burzer, Le Vite del Vasari. Genesi, topoi, ricezione , 49 52.
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Barbara Stoltz Disegno versus Disegno stampato : 3 theory of disegno as found in his remarks about his (C. disegni ) and of course in his main text about disegno in the above – mentioned Introduction to Painting , which will then be discussed to gether with his thoughts about the printed image . However, to complete ly answer the question of his definition of the printed image Vasari s general thoughts about painting have to also be briefly discussed , as it is essential to get a precise view of the problem of where Vasari collocates the printed image within the arts. (D. Disegno – disegno stampato ). The theory of print making : the questions are what kind of theory and theoretical pri nciples Vasari created about prints, and what kind of definition Vasari basically gives to the printed image . So far, t his main issue has not been clearly analyzed in the mentioned above , discussion s about Vasari s texts about printmaking concentrate on their errors and historical shortcoming s (Borea and Getscher). 11 Generally , three aspects emerge in the literature : Vasari judg ed the print to be reproductive, he assigned an inferior position to printmaking within the hierarchy of arts, and finally he defined the function of the printed image as being that of a n inst rument of communication , which indeed makes it a part of visual culture rather than an autonomous art . Landau/ Parshall and Büttner in particular discuss Vasari as an art historian who held that the ma in aim of printmaking is the reproduction of master paintings or drawings . 12 It is Landau who point s out that Vasari considers prin tmaking as inferior to painting . 13 Borea also draws attention to the fact tha t Vasari deals more with the printed image than with the printmakers, and for Büttner the printed image is already defined as a n instrument of communication . 14 However, in the most recent literature it is Thomas Ketelsen who has been the first to ask about discussed in this paper . 15 A. Torrentiniana (1550) D iscussion about theory on prints should begin with the first edition of the Vite from 1550 , published by Lorenz o Torrentino, where an essential t heoretical approach is already present. E specially in t he last three chapters ( XXXIII XXXV ) of the Introduction to Painting of the Teoriche , Va sari discusses techniques in metal and wood. C hapter XXXIII begins with the tec hnique of n iello . Niello , which may be described as design traced and painted on silver, as one paints and traces delicately with the pen, was discovered by the 11 Bo G etscher, of Italian and Northern Prints , 1 – 25. 12 See Landau/Parshall, The R enaissance P rint , 284 – 285. – 11. 13 14 – 31. , 11. 15 A. Castor (et al . eds. ), Druckgraphik zwischen Reproduktion und Invention , Berlin / München : Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2010, 20 5 – 221.
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Barbara Stoltz Disegno versus Disegno stampato : 4 goldsmith s as far back as the time of the ancients, there having been seen in their gold and silver plates incisions made by tools and filled up with some mixture. In n iello the design is traced with the stylus on silver which has a smooth surface, and is engraved with the burin, a square tool cut on the slant like a spur from one of its angles to the other; for sloping thus toward s one of the corners makes it very sharp and cutting on the two edges, and its point glides over the metal and graves extremely finely. With this tool is executed all graving on metal, whether the lines are to be filled o r are to be left open, according to the pleasure of the artificer. ( vol.1, 110) 16 Vasari defines the n iello as a drawing on silver, and he meticulously describes the ) , which he portrays a s the fundamental instrument for the execution of a drawing on metal. Subsequently, after describing the remaining steps of the n iello technique , Vasari introduces some lines on copper engraving: From this graving by the burin are derived the copper plates from which we see today so many impressions throu ghout all Italy of both Italian and German origin. Just as impression s in clay were taken from silver plaques before they were filled with niello , and casts pulled from these in sulphur, in the same manner the printers found out the method of striking off the sheets from copper plates with the press, as we have seen printing done in our own days. ( vol.1, 111) 17 In the subsequent lines and in chapter XXXIV, Vasar i continue s to discuss other techniques in metal , for instance enamel over bas – relief and tausìa . Then , in the last chapter , XXXV, Vasari discusses the chiaroscuro wood cut , emphasizing that it is an imitation of copper engraving . S ubsequently , he describes extensively how to cut the wood plate three times and how to press it on the paper three times in order to obtain outlines, lights , shadows and different tones. At the very beginning of the chapter Vasari stresses the derivation of the chiaroscuro woodcut from copperplate engraving: g not only design but the shadows, half – tints, and lights was also Ugo da Ca rp i. He 16 Vite in English, if not differently marked, are from Getscher, Annotated and ry of Italian and Northern Prints. Il niello, il quale non è altro che un disegno tratteggiato e dipinto su lo argento come si dipinge e tratteggia sottilmente con la penna, fu trovato dagli orefici fino al tempo degli antichi, essendosi veduti ferri ripieni di mistura negli ori et argenti loro. Questo si disegna con lo stile su lo argento che sia piano e s i intaglia co l bulino, ch è un ferro quadro tagliato a riempi e Citations from Vas Vite in the original language are always from: Rosanna Bettarini and Paola Barocchi (eds.), Giorgio Vasari. Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568 , Florence: Sansoni, 1966 – 1997, 6 vols., vol. 1, 16 5. 17 Da questo intaglio di bulino son derivate le stampe di rame, onde tante carte e italiane e tedesche di terra e si buttava di zolfo, così gli s tampatori trovarono il modo del fare le carte su le stampe di rame col torculo, come oggi abbiam veduto da essi imprimersi. (vol. 1, 166).
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Barbara Stoltz Disegno versus Disegno stampato : 5 invented the method of wood engraving in imitation of the engravings on copper 112) 18 To sum up, the essential point s of these three chapters are , first of all , the sequential structure of the texts and their subordinated context: in Teoriche , Vasari discusses the problem of how to classify single arts and art techniques within the main groups of sculpture and painting, which begs the question s What is painting ? What is sculpture ? . For instance , Vasari allocates glass – painting mosaic, enamel, graffito , inlay , the art of engraving and copperplate engraving to pittura . But scultura s o me of the arts mentioned also belong to sculpture. Vasari is conscious that it is not possible to set strict limits between pittura and scultura and f or that reason he allocates the art of graving to both sculpture and painting. 19 Consequently , in the above – mentioned chapters of Introduction to Painting which are also the last chapters of the w hole T eoriche Vasari discusses mixed forms betw een sculpture and painting: all techniques on metal plates, copper engraving included, and the chiaroscuro woodcut. In fact he defines tausìa and smalto specifically as pittur a . 20 However, all these arts mentioned in chapters XXXIII XXXV despite attribution of them to a mixed form of scultura and pittura have a n important common peculiarity whic h actually makes them nearer to the art of pittura : they are all formed as two – dimensional art, 21 like drawings executed on a metal or copper or wooden plate and their gain is th e impact of a painted picture lf – . Another essential aspect of chapters XXXIII to XXXV consists in the creation of a line of evolution from n iello to copperplate engraving to the chiaroscuro woodcut: copperplate engraving derives from the n iello technique , and again the chiaroscuro woodcut emerges as a n imitation of copperplate engraving. It is known that both these derivations are historically incorrect 22 , but this seems to be of no significance to Vasari at all, as he is concentrating rather on creating a plausible line of development in which artistic phenomena are set in a chain of cause and effect. But this artificial line of development itself expresses essential principles about the art of print making . The link between n iello and copper plate engraving , for in sta nce , serves to associate copper engraving with the arte del bulino . As a consequence , copper plate engraving is not only elevated in its value as deriv ing from the prestigious art of the goldsmith 23 , but moreover the notion that copper plate engraving follows the principles of graving is emphasized . Ther e fore, when Vasari describes the burin and how it is used in n iello , he explain s at the same time how a copperplate is created for a copper print ith this tool is executed all graving on 18 mez[z]i et i lu mi ancora, fu Ugo da Carpi, il quale a d imitazione delle stampe di rame ritrovò il modo (v ol. 1,170) 19 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol.1, 11, 15 16, 82. Vasari also refers to burin as an act of graving, not designing, even though he defines niello and so on as disegno . See the citations above. 20 Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 1, 166 & 170. 21 On Vasari and his definition of painting as a two – dimensional art, see Matteo Burioni (ed.), Giorgio Vasari. Einführung i n die K ü nste der Architektur, Bildhauerei und Malerei. Die künstlerischen T echniken der Renaissance als Medien des disegno, Berlin: Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, 2006, 19 – 20. 22 See for instance 18. 23 , 18.
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Barbara Stoltz Disegno versus Disegno stampato : 6 . In addition , the link between n iello and copper engraving emphasizes the importance of the procedure of printing: Vasari writes that it was the technique of printing an image from the niello plate during the process of n iello which helped to find a method to print a drawing from a metal plate on to paper generally . This aspect is a lso relevant to the link between the chiaroscuro woodcut and the copper engraving: it is the procedure of printing that makes it possible to achieve a specific tonality . Vasa ri stresses that the artist has to be careful to orientate all the plates in the same direction during printing in order to achieve the finest impression of lights and shadows. 24 To sum up, the chain from niello to copper plate engraving to the chiaroscuro woodcut which Va sari will repeat again and again in the Vite 25 complete s the definition of printmaking in chapters XXXIII – XXXV : the printed picture is based on a drawing on a printing plate ; the aim is to achieve a n optimal light and shadow effect , which is possible than ks to good execution of the drawing on the plate , and also thanks to careful performance of the printing procedure . In the Giunti edition , chapters XXXIII – XXXV do not present an y enhancements or changes compared to the first edition, probably because as Vasari himself explain s t he author decided to continue discuss ing the print issue mainly in the Life of Marcantonio . However , it is also possible that Vasari believed he had said enough about the principles of print making in this theoretical part of his book and did not see any necessity to enlarge on this basic information. In the index of the book from 1550, at the end of the column locations of t he works described under another small heading , print ed images , there are references to the Lives of R aph ael, Mantegna, Pierin del Vaga and Rosso Fiorentino . 26 I n all these fragmental anecdotes or descriptions of prints , Vasari already knows how to demonstrate the fundamental characteristics and problems of printmaking . For instance , the chapter L ife of Man tegna addresses an important issue : He bequeathed to painters the difficult foreshortening of figures from below upwards, a difficult and ingenious invention; and the way of en graving figures on copper for pr inting, a singularly true convenience, by whic h the world has been able to see not only the Bacchanalia, the Battle of Marine Monsters, The Deposition from the Cross, the Burial of Christ, and His Resurrection, with Longinus and S t . Andrew, works by Mantegna himself, but also the manners of all the cr aftsmen who have ever lived . (120 121) 27 It might appear that Vasari is speaking about prints as reproductive printing, in the sense of the multiplication of an image taken from a certain work of art. In fact , in the passage cited above Vasari says that c opper engraving would facilitate the 24 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 1, 171. 25 See Life of Raphael ( Torrentiniana and Giuntina ) and Life of Marcantonio . 26 A few other texts about prints in the 1550 edition are not mentioned in the index. Of course, overall, the re is still relatively little information about prints in the first edition compared to the edition from 1568 . 27 Lasciò costui alla pittura la difficultà degli scórti delle figure al di sotto in su, invenzione diffcile e capricciosa, et il modo dello int agliare in rame le stampe delle figure: comodità singularissima veramente, per la quale ha potuto vedere il mondo non solamente l ostri marini, il Deposto di croce, il Sepelimento di Cristo, la Resurressione con Longino e con Santo Andrea opere di esso Mantegna , ma le maniere ancora di tutti gli artefici che sono stati. (vol. 3, 555 556).
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Barbara Stoltz Disegno versus Disegno stampato : 8 images was so great that it could only be satisfied with t he invention of the chiaroscuro woodcut by Ugo da Ca r p i . 31 According to the tex ts considered here , it would seem incorrect to argue that Vasari discussed the print only in a marginal way in the Torrentiniana , or in that he discovered the print only in the second edition . 32 The exact opposite has been shown , that Vas ari was clearly aware of the art of print making in the Torrentiniana and discussed its fundamental aspects. In the Giunti edition the topic is only enriched: questions about the function and relevance of the print are enhanced, l ines are refin ed, corrected and bounded , following the principle Vite , which is the general principle of a continuous progression of the arts. 33 In addition, Vasari does not change his approach towards the print in the second edition; n either in the method of reporting events regarding prints , nor in his definition of printmaking . What is new is the huge amount of information on engravers and their works. B. Giuntina (1568) In the Giuntina , almost all the chapters are enhanced with texts about prints, and a ll of th ese amplifications serve to create a history of the development of print making more coherently . For instance , Vasari now defines clearly that Mantegna follows Pollaiuolo and surpasses him . Moreover , Mantegna loses his albeit weakly expressed role a s originator of the print, 34 which now passes to the n iello artist Maso da Finiguerra . 35 Thus , in the Giunti version Vasari changed the text in the Life of Mantega : Andrea , like Pollai u olo, delighted in engraving on copper; and among other things, he ma de engravings of his own Triumphs, which were then held in great account, since nothing better had been seen. () and he also took delight, as ha s bee n said, in engraving figures on copper for printing, a method of truly rare value, by means of which the world has been able to see () the Bacchanalia (). (120). 36 Compared to the reports about prints in the single Liv es of the Giuntina , the main chapter about print making , Life of Marcantonio , represent s on the one hand a summary an d an enlargement of the information given in the single chapters of the 31 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 4, 190 191. For r esearch about t he print market, especially in Rome , see: Christopher L.C.E Witcombe: Print Publishing in Sixteenth – Century – Rome. Growth and Expansion, Rivalry and Murder , London/Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2008. Also see the discussion about Baviera regarding Vas Vite in the same work , 19 – 51. 32 See Kallab, Vasaristudien , 303. 33 And the decade after each climax. See Proemio, Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 1, 9 – 10 34 Vasari said in the Torrentiniana that Mantegna invented a way of engraving on copper but not 35 See Life of Marcantonio , Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 5, 3. 36 Si dilettò il medesimo, sì come fece il Pollaiuolo, di far stampe di rame, Trionfi, e ne fu allora tenuto conto perché si dilettò ancora, come si è mediante la quale ha pot uto vedere il mondo (vol. 3, S. 554/556, Giuntina ) .
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Barbara Stoltz Disegno versus Disegno stampato : 9 Lives , which are linked together with phrases like as already said in the life of 37 . O n the other hand , the Life of Marcantonio stresses the history of the development of printmaking : Maso Finig uerra invented the art of copper engraving and was followed by Baccio Baldini. Later Mantegna took up the art of copper engraving, and subsequently this art reached Flanders, where its masters became Schongauer followed by Dürer , who in turn influenced Italian p rint making . Th e process which Vasari creates here (copper engraving is invented in Italy, reaches Flanders and then again with no historical truth is essential , as Vasari on the one hand has to explain the omnipresence of trans al pine prints in Italy, and on the other hand wants to preserve the Italian predominance in the invention of printmaking. 38 Vasari let s Marcantoni o beco me a follower of Dürer and connect s both engravers with the well – known plagiarism anecdote: Marcantonio imi tates the prints of Dürer so successful ly that his imitation s are sold as works by Dürer. This episode belongs to the narrative about Dürer s it is he that is the real protagonist of the first part of the Life of Marcantonio . 39 Indeed , Vasa ri subsequently write s about Dürer and his follower an d competitor Lucas v an Leyden. It is o nly after several paragraphs that Vasari starts the actual narrative about Mar c antonio, or rather about his works, which deviates to an account of the print market . A gain , the link to Bavaria and to Ug o da Ca r p i is repeated , 40 and subsequently Vasari lists engravings, where in addition to Marcantonio others artists are involved , for instance Giulio Romano, Marco Dente da Ravenna and Agostino Venezian o . With En e a Vico , Vasari closes his descriptions of the works of single engravers and changes his narrati ve method . He dedicates the next lines to stampatori and the publishers , in particular to Antonio Laf r eri, Antonio La bacco and Thomaso Barlacchi. S uccessively , he repor ts on some centres of print production , such as Rom e and Venice , in order to again speak about trans alpine prints, the protagonist of which he chooses to be Hieronymus Co c k . 41 He marks the change from narrati ve s about single engravers to the print as a ar ket – object with the following statement: Many others have occupied themselves with copper – plate engraving, who, although they have not attained to such perfection, have none the less benefited the world with their labours, by bringing many scenes and ot her works of excellent masters in to the light of day, and by thus giving the means of seeing various inventions and manners of the painters to those who are not able to go to the places where the principal works are, and conveying to the ultramontanes a k nowledge of many things tha t they did not know. And although many plates have been badly executed through the avarice of the printers, eager more for gain than for honour, yet in certain others, 37 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 5, 3. 38 20. 39 40 The story of the gift is not rep eated and Vasari enhances the description about the chiaroscuro woodcut by emphasizing more the relationship of this technique to painting. See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 5, 10 a. 14 15. 41 32 – 33.
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Barbara Stoltz Disegno versus Disegno stampato : 10 beside s tho se that have been mentioned, there may be seen som ething of the good (). (194 195) 42 The citation gives us an idea of how Vasari print making was confronted with the enormous number of works and artists. Borea has pointed out concerning the countless numbers o f anonymous prints in the 15 th century and , for instance , the existence of so many versions of any one image that Vasari must have been aware of the danger of getting confused . 43 Indeed the last lines of the chapter Life of Marcantonio Bolognese give an i mpression of confusion. Here, Vasari tries to include all the remaining facts and events about print s , but eventually he stop s abruptly and goes back to writing about Raimondi by narrating his death, because otherwise he would not have been able to title t his chapter L ife of Marcantonio at all. Nevertheless, general ly speaking , Vasari is able to deal with this mass of information about printmaking exactly because he constructs a story of development and because he put s the facts in to a chain of anecdotes, w hich sometimes appear as fables, such as the episode mentioned concerning the garzone Baviera and the gift of copper plates, which makes him become a successful stampatore . It is p recisely the se anecdotes and this is true of both edition s , Torrentiniana and Giuntina which serve Vasari to classify the works and the artist s , an d to place them in a al , the anecdotes also help t o particularize definitions and classifications formulated on printmaking . Therefore , Vasari assign s a specific role to some artist s, in which they represe nt a specific artistic problem. This can be seen , for instance , in the question of invention and execution in printmaking . As already said, Vasari understands the print as bo th an instrument for publish ing an invention and as an object demonstr at ing artistic ability. B oth aspect s are considered variable dimensions. In fact , in the Giuntina Vasari show s all the different possibilities of these two aspect s , rang ing from the perf ect inventor to the inferior engraver. Vasari notes, for instance , that Sandro Botticelli was an excellent disegnatore but that it is not possible to record any go o d prints after his works. 44 Andrea del Sarto even bec ame the victim of a bad engraver: having been convinced by his colleagues , he commission ed an engraving of one of his excellent paintings, but he was so disappointed by the execution of this print that he decided that no more of his w o r ks should be engraved . 45 Titian, instead , is not considered b y Vasari to be excellent at drawing , but the author of the Vite notice s that Titian brought out marvellous prints. 46 Of course, Raphael and Marcantonio Raimondi are equal 42 perfezione, hanno nondimeno con le loro fatiche giovato al mondo, e mandato in luce molte s torie et no: et ancorché molte carte siano state mal condotte (vol. 5, 19). 43 44 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 3, 516 517. 45 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 4, 361. 46 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 6, 157 159.
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Barbara Stoltz Disegno versus Disegno stampato : 11 partners as excellent inventor and excellent engraver. 47 Then again , Giulio Romano is c hosen as a successful disegnatore for having made vast of drawings for architectural projects, frescos, carpets and of cour se prints all over Europe, in Italy, Flanders and France . 48 Pierin del Vaga represents a negative p endant to Romano, as he had lost all of his work s during the sack of Roma. Feeling sorry for him , Baviera commissioned some drawings from him , which were then engraved by Jacopo Caraglio. 49 But finally, w ith Baccio Bandinelli , Vasari creates a figure that represents at one and the same time an excellent draughtsman but also an artist , whose drawing was corrected and enhanced by an engraving executed by Marcantonio Raimondi. B oth of Bandi nelli concern the same episode narrated in two different versions . T he altered end ings o f the episode are of course due to the goal of praising the artist in his own Life chapter . In the Life of Bandinelli Vasari narrates that he had executed an excellent drawing, the Martyrdom of Saint Laurent . The drawing was highly appreciated by the pope, who granted Bandinelli the nomination of cavalier of San Pietro and called Marcantonio Raimondi to engrave the image. 50 Conversely, in the Life of Marcantonio a different end ing of this episode is presented . 51 In this version, Bandinelli complained to the p ope that print of his drawing was full of error s . But Marcantonio was able to prove in the presence of the pope by showing him both his engraving and the original by Bandinelli that not only had he made no error , but also that on the co ntrary he had correcte d errors in Bandinelli s drawing, demonstrating more ability in his engraving than Bandinelli had in the drawing. 52 The print ed image surpasses the drawing? It is exactly the way that Vasari deals with the printe d image compared to the drawing that makes the nucleus of 47 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vit e , vol. 5, 10 11: la diligenza et intaglio di Marcantonio, che non era possibile veder meglio. 48 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 5, S. 76 77. 49 See Bettarini/Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari. Le Vite , vol. 5, 135 – 136. 50 Così con questa storia satisfece tanto Baccio al Papa, che egli operò che Marcantonio Bolognese la et il Papa donò a Baccio per ornamento della sua virtù un cavalier di San Piero . (vol. 5, 247). 51 For Schorn there is no contradiction between the two versions of the episode. According to him, the episode in the Life of Marcantonio continues the episode from the Life of Bandinelli . The whole narration should consequently be read as follows: first Bandinelli draw the Saint Laurent scene and was praised by the pope, who commissioned the engraving by Marcantonio ( Life of Bandinelli ). Then Bandinelli saw the engraving and began to complain, but afterwards Marcantonio was able to show that Bandinelli had made errors in his drawing and that the engraving improved it ( Life of Marcantonio ) . However, Hope has noticed that the first two volumes, where the Life of Ma rcantonio is included, were already printed before 1565, while the third volume, which includes the Life of Bandinelli was printed later around 1568 (this is demonstrated by some historical facts reported in the Life of Bandinelli ). For this reason it is a lso possible that Vasari did not remember the exact version of this story in the Life of Marcantonio 68, and Ludwig Schorn and Ernst Förster (eds.), Giorgio Vasari. Leben der ausgezeichnete n Maler, Bildhauer und Baumeister , reprint (Tübingen/Stuttgart 1832 – 1849 ) ed. by Julian Kliemann, Worms: gesellschaft, 1983, 6 vols., vol. 4, 131, note 21. 52 li faceva molti errori. carta stampata; onde il Papa conobbe che Marcantonio con molto giudizio avea non solo non fatto errori, ma correttone molti fatti dal Bandinello e di non piccola importanza, e che più avea saputo et (vol. 5, 13 14).
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