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Claude Mellan

Death of Adonis

Maker

Claude Mellan (French, 1598-1688), printmaker

Title

Death of Adonis

Year

1636-1662

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

engraving

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 21.8 x 30.6 cm (8 9/16 x 12 1/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Recto: lettered on plate, Ll: 'Cl. Mellan Gall'. inven[it] et sc[ulpsit]'; in LR: 'cum privilegio'.

Verso: in pencil, LR: The death of Adonis/1st St. avant le dedication; in LL: 1801/ 6232 (6232 underlined)/ now (underlined); in brown ink, UL:F. Gacoet 1826; along bottom on left in pencil: 7

Marks: R.I.S.D. Museum stamp in brown ink on verso

Identification

State

ii

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

46.351

Type

Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Exhibition History

Visions and Revisions
Feb 15, 2019 – Aug 04, 2019

Label copy

Distraught, Venus hurries to her dying lover, Adonis. He ignored her warnings about the dangers of the hunt and has been gored by a wild boar. In the background, cupids take vengeance on the animal.

This print of Mellan’s own design is a typical example of the artist’s unusual technique. Avoiding crosshatching almost entirely, he relied instead on the careful placement of parallel strokes. Tone, texture, and volume are conveyed by modulating the thickness and spacing of lines. Outlines and stippling are used sparingly. After studying in Rome Mellan became an established figure in the French school of engraving. Few artists, however, attempted to emulate his technique, which was perhaps too individualized to be easily taught.

The Brilliant Line
Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Sep 18, 2009 – Jan 03, 2010

Label copy

After about 1630, Claude Mellan began to subtract from, rather than add to, his vocabulary of marks, reducing it almost exclusively to the swelling line, as evident in this engraving of his own invention. Expertly spaced at intervals with varying depths, the swelling line does all the work of creating volume and light without any cross-hatching. The edges of forms are defined by the termination of swelling lines running perpendicular to them. Mellan portrayed the approaching amorini in the background with the simplest pattern of parallel lines, merely suggesting the outlines of the bodies and allowing the viewer to reconcile the shapes.

Classically composed in reference to French painters like Nicolas Poussin, the engraving narrates how Venus, pierced by Cupid’s arrow and besotted with love for Adonis, finds him dead after being gored by a wild boar. The amorini in the background try to hunt down the boar after its fatal blow.

Prints and Drawings with a Classical Reference
Dec 15, 1965 – Jan 09, 1966

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Claude Mellan (French, 1598-1688), printmaker
Death of Adonis, 1636-1662
Engraving on laid paper
Plate: 21.8 x 30.6 cm (8 9/16 x 12 1/16 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth 46.351

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