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Francesco Villamena

Presentation of Christ at the Temple

Maker

Francesco Villamena (Italian, 1566-1624), engraver
After Paolo Veronese, designer

Title

Presentation of Christ at the Temple

Year

1597

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

engraving

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 36 x 44.2 cm (14 3/16 x 17 3/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Lettered below image: "Quod opus de Christo Iesu in templo oblato Paulus Veronensis [...] Anno Sesquimillesimo Nonagesimo Septimo"

Watermark: Letter M under star within sheild (Woodward 324)

Identification

State

iv/v

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund

Object Number

66.102

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

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

Label copy

After the Carracci brothers (Annibale, Agostino, and Lucovico) relocated to Rome from Bologna in 1597, Francesco Villamena trained with them and worked for them on several projects. His oversize, sculptural forms, created with thick, controlled burin strokes, recall Agostino Carracci, but his engravings also exhibit an open and simplified organization of marks. Notice the lines placed at extreme angles in the central, shining textile, and the fact that there is virtually no dotting.

The presentation of Christ at the Temple is described in the Gospel as Mary and Joseph’s visit to the Temple of Jerusalem forty days after the birth, performed in obedience with the Law of Moses. Veronese’s painting was in situ in the church of San Sebastiano in Venice in 1560. The print was dedicated to Marcello Vestrio Barbiano, secretary to Clement VIII (1592-1605).

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

Francesco Villamena (Italian, 1566-1624), engraver
After Paolo Veronese, designer
Presentation of Christ at the Temple, 1597
Engraving
Plate: 36 x 44.2 cm (14 3/16 x 17 3/8 inches)
Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund 66.102

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