The Invention of the Italian Renaissance Printmaker [Hardcover]

Professor Evelyn Lincoln (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 2000

Before the age of multi-media, how did the invention of a new technology affect the careers of Renaissance artists? In this groundbreaking book, Evelyn Lincoln examines the formation of the new career of printmaker during the late fifteenth century and throughout the sixteenth century in Italy. She focuses particularly on the practical relationship between the ancient skill of drawing and the more modern techniques of artisans who made prints by engraving images into copper or wood. Looking closely at the widely diverse prints issuing from early Italian presses, Lincoln shows how Italian social, religious, and educational practices are revealed in these printed images, demonstrating how a printmaker's training and experience affected the look of the finished work. Lincoln builds her discussion around the work of three printmakers practising at different times and under varying economic opportunities and restraints: Andrea Mantegna in Mantua, Domenico Beccafumi in Siena, and Diana Mantuana (Diana Scultori) in Rome. She shows how the occupational origins of early printmakers and publishers affected how they thought about the functions of multiple images. This account of their work, whether at powerful courts, in a small republic, or in a cosmopolitan city, sets the prints in the context of related paintings, sculpture, and architecture, describing a period when printmaking opened up new ways to make a living and transformed the mechanisms of Renaissance visual culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

By the early 1500s, woodblock prints, engravings, and the new technique of etching were all used by the expanding publishing world. Though it remained generally a sideline, there was enough patronage and popular interest in printmaking for artists to earn a living. And artists to the north, notably Albrecht D rer, were reaching a wider audience through editions made at their workshops. Lincoln (history of art and architecture, Brown Univ.) gives us a clear indication of the spread of printmaking as a vocation in Italy. She centers on three artists living in different cities: Andrea Mantegna in Mantua, Domenico Beccafumi in Siena, and Diana Mantuana (Diana Scultori) in Rome. Using these examples, Lincoln covers more than geography and stylistic preferences. The reader gains insight into the Italian economy, the court and guild systems, and the life of a female artist during the Renaissance. There is information about the creation of chiaroscuro prints, which allowed artists to receive their training, and anecdotes about Giorgio Vasari. Lincoln is a true scholar, and the book is loaded with interesting material for serious students of printmaking and art history. For this reason, it is best suited for academic collections. However, this is a well-researched book for anyone curious about this period in history.DSusan Lense, Columbus, OH
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Clear and thorough descriptions. . . . A beautifully produced book with exceptionally clear black-and-white and superb color illustrations." -- Choice

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; First Edition edition (August 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300080417
• ISBN-13: 978-0300080414
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,241,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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