Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/661

 ENGRAVING 649 could be done with wood engravings only, and great pains were taken to make improvements in the art. Since then it has made rapid ad- vances, and has resumed the place in book illus- tration from which plate engraving for a time deposed it. German scholars long regarded Martin Schon or Schongauer as the inventor of plate engraving, quoting some impressions exe- cuted, according to them, about 1460 ; but the abb6 Zani found in Paris a proof of a pax rep- resenting the coronation of the Virgin, dated 1452, the original plate of which, by Maso Fi- niguerra, is still preserved in Florence. This would seem to corroborate Vasari's assertion that the first use of a metal plate for engraving was by Finiguerra, a goldsmith of Florence, who practised the decoration of gold and silver plate with niello work, a process consisting of running into lines cut in the metal a black alloy of silver, lead, copper, sulphur, and borax. The surface, when scraped down and polished, ap- peared beautifully ornamented according to the skill and taste exhibited in the pattern. To ob- tain a copy of the engraved figure before filling it, Finiguerra is said to have applied soot and oil fnd taken an impression on damp paper; and thus was made the first print on paper from a metallic plate. But Passavant, in the Archives de Naumann (1858, p. 1), describes an engraving of the Virgin bearing the date of 1451 ; and Renouvier in a recent pamphlet re- veals the existence of a series of prints of the "Passion" made in 1446. The earliest works were executed on tin, zinc, or iron ; but copper soon became recognized as the metal best adapt- ed for engrarving, and until the invention of steel engraving it was used almost to the exclusion of other metals. The art spread quickly over Eu- rope. Painters of distinction, as Botticelli, An- drea Mantegna, Giovanni Bellini, Campagnola, and others, gave their attention to it, and it was rapidly perfected. This was especially the case in Germany and the Netherlands, where it was adopted by many eminent men, among whom Albert Diirer is particularly distinguish- ed. Rembrandt, Vandyke, and other great painters also executed valuable works with the tching needle, and Raphael highly prized the jrvices of the great Italian engraver Marc mtonio, who transferred to copper many of lis designs. The art was introduced into Eng- ind at an early period, an illustrated work lied the " Golden Legend " having appeared in 1483, and in 1543 Vesalius's work on anato- my, in Latin, illustrated with copperplate engra- vings. Maps of English counties were engraved in 15T9, but little progress was made previous to the 18th century, when Vertue and Hogarth, and subsequently Strange, Woollett, Barto- lozzi, Sharp, and others, brought the art to a high degree of excellence. Italy is no longer preeminent for her engravers ; but within the century she has furnished some of transcen- dent merit, whose works will compare with the best of their predecessors. At the head of these stands Raphael Morghen (died 1833), whose "Last Supper" after Da Vinci, and "Transfiguration" and Madonna della Seg- giola after Raphael, are among the most costly productions of the art. Schiavoni, the An- derlonis, Bettelini, Longhi, Porporati, Pavon (a pupil of Raphael Morghen), and others, have engraved with success many of the works of the old masters. Toschi (died 1854) took high rank among line engravers by his print of the "Entry of Henry IV. into Paris," after the picture by Gerard, as well as by his " Descent from the Cross," after Volterra, Spasimo di Sicilia, after Raphael, and other works from the old masters. Rosaspina, Bisi, Mercuri, and others, have produced many meritorious prints from masters both old and modern. In Ger- many the art has witnessed a steady improve- ment since the beginning of the century. Rahl, Hess, Reindel, Timer, Leybold, Kessler, Kobell, Barth, Klein, J. H. and J. J. Lips, Steinla, and others, have gained eminence as line engravers ; and Christian Friedrich von Miiller, who died in 1816, aged 33, produced a print from Raphael's Madonna di San Sisto, which is regarded as one of the noblest achievements of the graver. His father, J. G. von Mtiller, was also a good engraver, and among other works executed the well known print of the battle of Bunker Hill from Trum- bull's picture. The renaissance in German painting, effected by the efforts of Cornelius, Overbeck, Schadow, Kaulbach, and others, has had a marked influence on the art of en- graving, and within the last half century has arisen a school of engravers who have cooper- ated with these masters in their endeavors to restore to art its ancient simplicity and deep religious feeling. Prominent among these are Ruscheweyh, who was associated at Rome with Cornelius and Overbeck, and who has engraved the chief works of the new school ; Amsler, Keller, the Felsings, and Merz, who have drawn their inspiration from the same source; Thater, Eichens, Mandel, Rahn, and Schleich, who, among other works, have en- graved some of the masterpieces of Kaulbach, Schnorr, Scheffer, &c. In France as in Ger- many the efforts of engravers are now less directed to the reproduction of the works of the old masters, or of indifferent designs for illustrated books, than to the execution of prints after contemporaneous painters. David, Gros, Ingres, and others, have afforded numer- ous subjects ; and of such popular painters as Vernet, Delaroche, and Ary Scheffer, nearly every important work has been engraved. Yet France has produced some excellent line en- gravers after the old masters, among whom may be mentioned the baron Desnoyers (died 1857), who executed fine prints of Raphael's Belle jar- diniere^ "Transfiguration," and of Gerard's Napoleon; Prevost (died 1861), who engraved Paul Veronese's " Marriage of Cana ;" the Mas- sards, Lecomte, Lorichon, Bein, Richomme, Forster, Martinet, Lignon, Gudin, Audouin, Bridoux, Girard, &c. Of those who have