E.147 Anonymous, Draped Youth
Etching, Anonymous, 22.5 x 15 L (Paris, Ed 8b Rés.). Inscribed at lower right: Rous de Rous: Floren: Inuen.; and at bottom center: Cum priuilegio Regis.
Fig.E.147 (London)
Herbet, II, 1896, 291 (1969, 87), Appendix, 2, as Anonymous after Rosso, and as formerly attributed to Fantuzzi in the catalogue of the Laurencel sale, and to Master L.D. by others.
COLLECTIONS: London, 1850-5-27-288. Paris, Ba 12; Ed 8b Rés.,Vol. I, no. 131, right.
LITERATURE:
Kusenberg, 1931, 168, as Anonymous, after Rosso.
Carroll, 1975, 21, and Fig. 6 (London), as possibly made after a lost drawing by Rosso for the frame of the Enlightenment of Francis I in the Gallery of Francis I.
Carroll, 1987, 46, 292-293, no. 93, with Fig. (Paris, Ed 6b Rés).
As suggested in P.22, VII South (P.22, VII S), this figure is most likely derived from a lost drawing made for one of the painted figures that was to form part of the decoration surrounding the Enlightenment of Francis I in the Gallery of Francis I. In the etching, the dark rectangular area at the left is not actually a block but one of the areas that in the gallery contains the large central fresco or one of the garland panels at the ends of the wall. The figure stands on another shaded area, which in the gallery is a stucco ledge with exactly the same profile.
Stylistically, the etching very much resembles the painted figures to which it corresponds on this wall, in proportion, pose, costume, and in the way the hair blows. The similarity is so close that one has to conclude that the print was made after a lost drawing by Rosso that was intended for this wall, hence a drawing made around 1534-1536. All the painted figures seem to be female, although the fourth one playing a flute could be male. Fantuzzi’s etching (Fig.E.75), dependent on a lost drawing by Rosso for the frame of this wall, shows one of these figures certainly male, and a second may be also. But all four are nude with only small amounts of drapery. The etching would represent a later idea for one of these figures, but one that was not actually used. The etching may be in reverse of Rosso’s drawing, which is generally the case with prints made from his designs.
The print seems to be by the same etcher who did the figure costumed as Hercules after Rosso (Fig.E.160). He was possibly a printmaker who was primarily an engraver but who ventured here into etching. The style of the lettering of the inscriptions on these etchings is identical to that on the engravings of Milan and Boyvin. Should they be by Milan, it is just possible that they were made before Rosso died.