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52 OLD & NEW TESTEMENT ETCHINGS AFTER RAPHAEL
BORGIANNI, Orazio. [Bible Scenes after Raphael].
[Rome], 1615. Oblong folio (22 x 30 cm). A complete series of 52 numbered etchings (about 13.5 x 17-22 cm) after Raphael's 52 frescos of Old and New Testament scenes in the Loggia of the Vatican. Eighteenth-century calf.
| Orders and Information | € 3250 |
A rare complete set of Borgianni's series of 52 numbered etchings after 52 frescos of Old and New Testament scenes in the Loggia at the Vatican, painted by Raphael ca. 1517. Though the composition closely follows Raphael's frescos, Borgianni retains a lively vigour in his execution. Prints 1-48 show Old Testament and 49-52 New Testament scenes. All bear Borgiani's monogram and the date 1615, and the last has an inscription, "RAPHA VRBI INVEN." Print 25 is unnumbered, as in the incomplete Getty set and perhaps as usual. Borgiani (1577/78?-1616), painter and engraver/etcher, was born in Rome, worked for King Philip II in Spain in 1605 and then returned to Rome for the rest of his career. This is his only extensive print series.
About two thirds of the prints are on a paper stock with a anchor in a circle, crowned by a six-pointed star (in the general style of the earlier Piccard VI, part V, no. 345). The paper stock of the remaining third shows a shield with a protruding cusp at the top (58 x 28 mm), but the bearing is difficult to make out (possibly a crowned head in profile, or a human figure). Each watermark is centred on a chainline. The two paper stocks were probably mixed before printing.
With the ca. 1900 bookplate of Aldus la Pipe. In very good condition and nearly untrimmed, giving generous margins. The first and last print are slightly dirty and a couple others have a minor marginal stain, not approaching the plate edge. The binding is shabby. A rare and lively series of biblical etchings.
