Idéé, &c. p. 217].
[99] I must remark, that some copper of the earliest age may have been preserved and made use of after the introduction of felt and of the press. In this case there will remain no impression of the linen cloth, but the print will be poor and faint.
[100] In the prints of Dante, and other Florentine books, a yellowish colour prevails; and we may observe stains of oil and blots at the extremities. A pale ash colour was also used for wood prints by the Germans, and Meerman remarks that it was employed to counterfeit the colour of designs.
[101] See Lettere Pittoriche, tom. ii. p. 268.
[102] Ibid. p. 269. I should add, that the twenty others are now known, obtained for the Riccardi library at Florence.
[103] Lettere Pittoriche, tom. ii. p. 267. It is ascertained that Maso flourished less recently; and the Dante prints, inferior to those of Botticelli, were ascribed to him only on account of their coarseness, as we gather from Gaburri.
[104] It is denied that he was the inventor of this mode of engraving by many learned Germans, who give the merit of it to Wolgemuth. Meerman, L. C. p. 256.
[105] Notes to Baldinucci, tom. iv. p. 2.
[106] It was observed, at p. 115, that the Epiphany of Maso is anterior to the work of the Assumption. The progress from the minute and careful, to the free and great style, is very gradual. The present work contains many examples of this, even in the loftiest geniuses, in Coreggio, and in Raffaello himself.
[107] A sample of his ignorance appears in what he wrote of Demone; not well understanding Pliny, he did not believe Demone to be the fabulous genius of Athens; but set him down as a painter of mortal flesh and blood, and gave his portrait with those of Zeuxis, Apelles, and other ancient painters.
[108] Origines Typographicæ, tom. i. p. 254.
[109] Idéé Générale d'une Collection Complète d'Estampes, pp. 224, 116, where he gives his opinion on Sandrart's work. See also Dictionnaire des Artistes, vol. ii. p. 331.
[110] He says that his cipher was M. C. which P. Orlandi reads Martinus de Clef, or Clivensis Augustanus. But he was not from Anversa; but was, according to Meerman, Calembaco-Suevus Colmariæ, whence we may explain the cipher to mean Martinus Colmariensis. In many of his prints it is M. S.
[111] Called by Lomazzo "Israel Metro Tedesco, painter and inventor of the art of engraving cards in copper, master of Bonmartino," in which I think we ought rather to follow the learned natives already cited, than our own countryman.
[112] Diction. des Monogram. p. 67.
[113] See Tiraboschi, 1st. Lett. tom. vi. p. 119.
[114] The prints of Schön, even such as represent works in gold and silver, are executed with admirable knowledge and delicacy. Huber, tom. i. p. 91.
[115] The Florentine merchants, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, especially such as advanced money upon interest, abounded in Germany; insomuch that part of a town was called Borgo Fiorentino. This I learn from Dottore Gennari, a Paduan gentleman, not long since lost to the republic of letters. The number of German Princes who coined money in Florence, may be gathered from the work of Orsini, and other writers, upon our modern coinage.
[116] The direction given by the Ab. Zani for similar specimens is this: "The engravings of the Venetian school, generally speaking, are of a delicate, soft, and full design; the figures are large, few, and very beautiful in the extremities. Those of the Florentines are engraved in a stronger manner, and are less soft and round; sometimes even harsh; the figures are small, pretty numerous, with the extremities less highly finished." Materiali, p. 57.
[117] Cellini, in his preface to his Treatise upon the art of working in gold, asserts that Maso himself copied from the designs of Pollaiuolo, which has been completely refuted by the Ab. Zani. Materiali, p. 40.
[118] Boccaccio, Decamerone, Giorn. vi. Nov. 6.
[119] See Taia, Description of the Vatican Palace, p. 404].
[120] Forty of these I find cited, and I am informed of some others not yet edited. The Ab. Zani (p. 142) assures us "that the genuine impressions which are now acknowledged to be from the hand of Mantegna, do not amount to twenty; and nearly all of them are executed with few figures." Such an assertion appears no less singular to me than to others on whose judgment I could rely, whom I have consulted. How can we admit its accuracy, when confronted with the account of Mantegna's fellow citizen and contemporary Scardeone, who collected his works, and who expressly declares, as cited by the Ab. Zani, "that Mantegna engraved Roman triumphs, Bacchanalian festivals, and marine deities: also the descent of Christ from the cross, and the burial," engravings exhibiting a variety of figures, and in number more than a dozen. After this enumeration the historian adds, "et alia permulta," and many others. To confute this excellent testimony, the Ab. Zani refers only to the words of the same Scardeone, who thus continues: "Those plates are possessed by few, and held in the highest esteem; nine of them, however, belong to me, all of them different." This writer therefore, in spite of his expression "et alia permulta," confesses that he had only nine specimens from the hand of his fellow citizen. Yes, I reply, he confesses his scanty portion, but admits the superior number that exists in various cabinets, and what reason have we for believing the first assertion and not the second? For my part, I give credit to the historian; and if any one doubt, from a diversity of style between the plates, that there is any exaggeration in his statement, I should not hence conclude that they are from different hands, but executed by the same hand, the works of the artist's early life being inferior to his last. For what artist ever devoted himself to a new branch, and did not contrive to cultivate and improve it? It is sufficient that the taste be not wholly opposite.
[121] Panzer, Ann. Typogr. tom. ii. p. 4.
[122] The Catalogue of the Libreria Heideggeriana is cited as the first source; but after fresh research, nothing certain has been discovered. Volta conjectures that this edition de Venenis was not a separate book, but a part of the Conciliatore of Pietro d'Abano, printed in folio at Mantua, 1472.
