1109a. VIRGIN AND CHILD.
A. R. Mengs (German: 1728-1779).
See also (p. xx)
Anton Raphael Mengs, the son of a court painter at Dresden—a post to which the boy afterwards succeeded—was taken when a boy to Rome and set to study the works of the great masters. He became the most celebrated representative of the Eclectic School of painting in the eighteenth century, and played a great part in the early days of the classic revival of that period. In his writings, in Spanish, Italian, and German, he elaborated his eclectic theory—the attainment of perfection by the combination of diverse excellences, Greek designs with the expression of Raphael, the chiaroscuro of Correggio, and the colour of Titian. He was an intimate friend of Winckelmann, who constantly wrote at his dictation. His work was eagerly sought after, both at Rome and at the courts of Dresden and Madrid, and his books enjoyed a very wide circulation.
A cartoon, executed in black chalk.