TITIAN
Agostino Carracci
MADONNA AND CHILD
Federigo Barocci
Thereafter, as engraving sinks into routine and commercialism, let us turn to etching, a process likewise introduced from the North and practiced in Italy since the sixteenth century. Its easy technique offered many advantages to the artist over the intricacies which had crept into engraving, to be mastered only by long practice. The ease and freedom of the etched line, its expressiveness and—not least—the accidental effects resulting from unforeseen action of the acid, appealed to the artists, but the process came too late to share with engraving in the reflected glory of the grand Renaissance period. Etching is the medium used by Parmeggiano, Primaticcio, Guido Reni, and many others, but they do not take the graphic arts any more seriously than their predecessors in Italian art. Their plates are hasty experimental jottings, which show that their main interest is centered on more pretentious conceptions; only rarely do they attempt the picture-like elaboration which we find in this “Madonna and Child.” It is the work of Federigo Barocci, certainly one of the best painter-etchers of the period, and reveals to some extent the rich, effective accents, the freshness and freedom of line attainable in etching, which is to find such splendid exponents in the Netherlands. It is well worth while, though not within the scope of this condensed review, to dally amidst these sixteenth-century etchings, and then, proceeding to a later period, to linger over the powerful, direct presentations of Giuseppe Ribera and to glance at the figure sketches of Salvator Rosa. The eighteenth century brings us the spirits compositions of the two Tiepolo, effective, with sharp, sparkling play of light and shade, and Antonio Canale (Canaletto), who makes us feel the very breeze which blows, in his etchings, and the warmth of the sunshine which bathes his Venetian views. What more delightful glimpse of the Italian coast than this “Torre di Malghera” with the dazzling white watch-tower and the exquisite, luminous handling of sea, sky, and distance. The same eighteenth century witnesses an intense revival of activity in engraving. The technical triumphs then achieved in France stimulate Italian engravers, whose mastery of an elaborate technique is plentifully exemplified in the plates of Raphael Morghen, Volpato, Longhi, Toschi, and a number of other well-known men in the large group of “classical” engravers. Their energies and skill are mainly devoted to the interpretation of those glorious creations of painters of the Renaissance, which had entirely baffled the early engravers with their limited technical resources. These thousands of plates were exceedingly popular for many years, some of them—the “Last Supper” after Leonardo, engraved by Morghen, for instance—is much sought for to this day in fine impressions. Broadly speaking, while these engravings are certainly skillful achievements in a highly systematized, elaborate technique, their technical perfection is aggressive and imparts a formal coldness, a lifelessness, and a metallic quality, which doubtless explains—in part—their decline in popular favor during recent years.
TORRE DI MALGHERA
Antonio Canale
