Marcantonio Raimondi, often called simply Marcantonio (c. 1470/82 – c. 1534), was an Italian engraver, known for being the first important

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

whose body of work consists largely of prints copying paintings. He is therefore a key figure in the rise of the reproductive print. He also systematized a technique of

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

that became dominant in Italy and elsewhere. His collaboration with

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

greatly helped his career, and he continued to exploit Raphael's works after the painter's death in 1520, playing a large part in spreading

High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...

styles across Europe. Much of the biographical information we have comes from his life, the only one of a printmaker, in

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

's ''

Lives of the Artists ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' ( it, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori), often simply known as ''The Lives'' ( it, Le Vite), is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-ce ...

''. He is attributed with around 300 engravings. After years of great success, his career ran into trouble in the mid-1520s; he was imprisoned for a time in Rome over his role in the series of erotic prints ''

I Modi ''I Modi'' (''The Ways''), also known as ''The Sixteen Pleasures'' or under the Latin title ''De omnibus Veneris Schematibus'', is a famous erotic book of the Italian Renaissance in which a series of sexual positions were explicitly depicted i ...

'', and then, according to Vasari, lost all his money in the

Sack of Rome in 1527 The Sack of Rome, then part of the Papal States, followed the capture of the city on 6 May 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the League of Cognac. Despite not being ordered to storm the city, wit ...

, after which none of his work can be securely dated.

Biography

Early years

Marcantonio's date of birth is unknown, but was by 1482 at the latest. He was possibly born in Argine, near

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, where he is assumed to have grown up. He trained in the workshop of the leading

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...

and painter in Bologna,

Francesco Francia __NOTOC__ Francesco Francia, whose real name was Francesco Raibolini (1447 – 5 January 1517) was an Italian painter, goldsmith, and medallist from Bologna, who was also director of the city mint.Levinson:492 He may have trained with Marco Zo ...

. Vasari claimed that Marcantonio quickly demonstrated more aptitude than Francia, and started designing and producing fashionable waist-buckles (among other items) in ''

niello Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is pushed ...

'' (engraved metal which is filled in with alloy in a contrasting colour). This is doubted, however, by

Arthur Mayger Hind Arthur Mayger Hind (1880–1957) was a British art historian and curator, who usually published as Arthur M. Hind or A. M. Hind. He specialized in old master prints, and was Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Mus ...

, who sees no evidence of a background in niello technique in his early engravings. No paintings produced by Marcantonio are known or documented, although some drawings survive. His first dated engraving, ''

Pyramus and Thisbe Pyramus and Thisbe are a pair of ill-fated lovers whose story forms part of Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. The story has since been retold by many authors. Pyramus and Thisbe are two lovers in the city of Babylon who occupy connected houses. Their r ...

'', comes from 1505, although a number of undated works come from the years before this. From 1505–11, Marcantonio engraved about 80 pieces, with a wide variety of subject matter, from

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

, to religious scenes. His early works use his own compositions, combining elements from Francia and other North Italian artists, and like all Italian printmakers in these years he was strongly affected by the enormously accomplished prints of Dürer, which were widely distributed in Italy. Like other

s such as

Giulio Campagnola Giulio Campagnola (; c. 1482 – c. 1515) was an Italian engraver and painter, whose few, rare, prints translated the rich Venetian Renaissance style of oil paintings of Giorgione and the early Titian into the medium of engraving; to further his ...

, he borrowed elements of Dürer's landscapes in a cut and paste fashion, and also borrowed from his technique. Dürer was in Bologna in 1506, as was

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

, and he may have met one or both of them.Boorsch, 62

Reproductions

About this time he began to make copies of Dürer's

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

series, the

Life of the Virgin The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the nu ...

. This was extremely common practice, although normally engravers copied other expensive engravings rather than the cheaper

s. However Dürer's woodcuts had raised the standard of the medium considerably, and since Marcantonio continued to copy a large number of both Dürer's engravings and woodcuts, he must have found it profitable. His early copies included Dürer's famous AD

monogram A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series o ...

, and Dürer made a complaint to the Venetian Government, which won him some legal protection for his monogram, but not his compositions, in Venetian territory - an important case in the slowly evolving history of

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

law. Marcantonio appears to have spent some of the last half of the decade in Venice, but no dates are known.

Rome

Around 1510, Marcantonio travelled to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and entered the circle of artists surrounding

. This influence began showing up in engravings titled ''The Climbers'' (in which he reproduced part of

's ''Soldiers surprised bathing'', also called ''

Battle of Cascina The Battle of Cascina was an engagement between Pisan and Florentine troops on 28 July 1364 near Cascina, modern-day Italy. Florence's victory followed a recent defeat to Pisan forces that had enabled mercenary John Hawkwood, who was in comman ...

''). After a reproduction of a work by Raphael, entitled ''Lucretia'', Raphael trained and assisted Marcantonio personally. Another famous engraving, the ''Judgement of Paris'', dated 1515 or 1516, after Raphael, became the composition source for

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...

when he painted

The Luncheon on the Grass ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

. The two started a successful printing establishment under a colorgrinder, Il Baveria, that quickly expanded into an engraving school with Marcantonio at the head. Among his most distinguished pupils were

Marco Dente Marco Dente da Ravenna (1493–1527), usually just called 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, ...

(

Marco da Ravenna Marco Dente da Ravenna (1493–1527), usually just called Marco Dente, was an Italian engraving, engraver born in Ravenna in the latter part of the 15th Century. He was a prominent figure within the circle of printmakers around Marcantonio Raimond ...

), Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio and Agostino de Musi (

Agostino Veneziano Agostino Veneziano ("Venetian Agostino"), whose real name was Agostino de' Musi (c. 1490 – c. 1540), was an important and prolific Italian engraver of the Renaissance. Life Veneziano was born in Venice, where he trained as an artist, though h ...

Later years

Marcantonio and his pupils continued to make engravings based upon Raphael's work, even after Raphael's death in 1520. In many instances, Marcantonio would not copy the finished painting, but instead worked from early sketches and drafts. This method produced variations on a theme and were moderately successful. Around 1524, Marcantonio was briefly imprisoned by

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

for making the

I modi ''I Modi'' (''The Ways''), also known as ''The Sixteen Pleasures'' or under the Latin title ''De omnibus Veneris Schematibus'', is a famous erotic book of the Italian Renaissance in which a series of sexual positions were explicitly depicted i ...

set of erotic engravings, from the designs of

Giulio Romano Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-centu ...

, which were later accompanied by sonnets written by

Pietro Aretino Pietro Aretino (, ; 19 or 20 April 1492 – 21 October 1556) was an Italian author, playwright, poet, satirist and blackmailer, who wielded influence on contemporary art and politics. He was one of the most influential writers of his time and a ...

. At the intercession of the

Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici Ippolito de' Medici (March 1511 – 10 August 1535) was the only son of Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, born out-of-wedlock to his mistress Pacifica Brandano. Biography Ippolito was born in Urbino. His father died when he was only five (1516), an ...

Baccio Bandinelli Baccio Bandinelli (also called Bartolommeo Brandini; 12 November 1493 – shortly before 7 February 1560), was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, draughtsman, and painter. Biography Bandinelli was the son of a prominent Florentine goldsmith, ...

and

, he was released, and set to work on his plate of the ''Martyrdom of St. Lawrence'' after Bandinelli. During the Sack of Rome, in 1527, he was forced to pay a heavy ransom by the Spaniards and fled in poverty. It is unclear where he stayed after his departure from Rome until his death in 1534. File:Bathers on the edge of a river bed, with hunters emerging fr Wellcome V0049686.jpg, ''Bathers on the edge of a river'', or ''The Climbers'', an important print of 1510, based on a detail of

's ''Battle of Cascina''; this was the last print he dated. File:Raimondi Statue of Marcus Aurelius.jpg, The

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius The ''Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius'' (, ) is an ancient Roman equestrian statue on the Capitoline Hill, Rome, Italy. It is made of bronze and stands 4.24 m (13.9 ft) tall. Although the emperor is mounted, it exhibits many similari ...

, one of many prints of antiquities. File:Marcantonio Raimondi - David and Goliath - WGA18973.jpg, ''

David and Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant defeated by the young David in single combat. The story signified King Saul's ...

'', 1515–16 File:Marcantonio Raimondi - Amadeus Berruti with Austeritas, Amititia, and Amor.jpg, ''Amadeus Berruti with Austeritas, Amititia, and Amor'', с. 1517 File:Joseph and Potiphar's Wife LACMA M.88.91.149.jpg,

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

and

Potiphar's Wife Potiphar's wife is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. She was the wife of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard in the time of Jacob and his twelve sons. According to the Book of Genesis, she falsely accused Joseph of attempted r ...

, c. 1520 File:A Young and an Old Bacchant.jpg, A Young and an Old Bacchant. File:Adam and Eve by Marcantonio Raimondi.jpg, F. Best after Marcantonio Raimondi,
Adam and Eve
', 19th century, engraving

Notes

References

*"BM
Marcantonio (Biographical details)
British Museum *Bohn, Babette. "Raimondi, Marcantonio."

Grove Art Online ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

, Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press. Web. 23 Jan. 2017
subscription required
* Boorsch, Suzanne, in: K.L. Spangeberg (ed), ''Six Centuries of Master Prints'', Cincinnati Art Museum, 1993, *Landau, David, in Landau, David and Parshall, Peter. ''The Renaissance Print'', Yale, 1996, *Pon, Lisa, ''Raphael, Dürer, and Marcantonio Raimondi, Copying and the Italian Renaissance Print'', 2004, Yale UP, * * ;Attribution *

External links

Biographical information

Artcyclopedia: Marcantonio Raimondi (1480 - 1527)

Reproductions of his works

Works at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaCybermuseChilds GalleryMarcantonio Raimondi engravings from De Verda collectionPrints & People: A Social History of Printed Pictures
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Marcantonio Raimondi (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Raimondi, Marcantonio 1530s deaths People from Molinella Italian engravers Italian printmakers Renaissance engravers Year of birth uncertain