{"id":3935,"date":"2012-04-05T16:21:08","date_gmt":"2012-04-05T20:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vassar.edu\/rosso\/?page_id=3935"},"modified":"2012-10-25T14:16:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-25T18:16:30","slug":"e-48-caraglio-battle","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/catalogues\/engravings\/e-48-caraglio-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"E.48 Battle of the Romans and the Sabines"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

E.48 Caraglio, Battle of the Romans and the Sabines, III<\/p><\/div>\n

Engraving by Gian Jacopo Caraglio, 35.7 x 50.1 L (London, II).<\/p>\n

Four states:<\/p>\n

I.\u00a0 Unfinished.\u00a0 The entire composition has been engraved in outline and interior details have also been defined with lines; the upper center of the print has been finely finished with a few figures outlined only and others incompletely modelled, the architecture at the upper left is incomplete and shows a herm outlined in the niche, the limbs of a few figures in the bottom half are partly modelled, and the cast shadows on the ground have been defined (Paris).<\/p>\n

II.\u00a0 Also unfinished but details in the upper right corner of the print have been more completely defined (London; Vienna).<\/p>\n

III.\u00a0 The print has been completed by a less skilled engraver who did not understand the arrangement of the steps at the right and who, thus, removed the horizontal lines and orthogonals, making the architecture here incomprehensible; he also removed the herm from the niche at the upper left and shaded this entire area.\u00a0 Inscribed on the wall at the top just left of center: \u2022 RAPTVS \u2022 \/ \u2022\u00a0 SABINARO \u2022 <\/em>(the N backwards), and at the lower left: \u2022 ROMVLE \u2022\u00a0 MILITIBVS \u2022_SEIST \u2022_\/\u00a0 \u2022 DARE \u2022 CONMODA \u2022\u00a0 TVIS \u2022<\/em>1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

IV.\u00a0 Also inscribed, at the lower right: Ant.sal.exc<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Fig.E.48, Paris<\/a> (State I)
\nFig.E.48, London<\/a> (State II)
\nFig.E.48, London, III<\/a> (State III)
\nFig.E.48, Florence<\/a> (State IV, detail)<\/p>\n

Bartsch, XV, 1813, 96-98, 63, in the heading as after Bandinelli, according to Florent le Comte, who also wrongly attributed the print to Marcantonio, but in Bartsch\u2019s text as after Rosso, according to Vasari.\u00a0 Bartsch describes what is here State III, but mentions as a State I the impression in Vienna that is here State II.\u00a0 Le Blanc, 1854-1890, I, 590, 64 (State III).<\/p>\n

COLLECTIONS: Bologna (IV).\u00a0 Chatsworth, Vol. 2, p.85 (154) (III).\u00a0 Berlin, 413-22 (III).\u00a0 Braunschweig, no. 11 (IV).\u00a0 Florence, 95907ss (IV).\u00a0 London, 1873-5-10-222 (III); 1898-2-15-4 (III, poor); Caraglio Vol., C53, p.57a, 1919-7-14-2 (II).\u00a0 New York, 49.97.254 (III).\u00a0 Paris, Eb 6b R\u00e9s. (I, a small segment in the upper left corner is missing and re-drawn, and a large piece at the lower left is missing and re-drawn, including the entire right foot of the bearded nude looking to the left and gesturing to the right); also an impression of III.\u00a0 Vienna, It.I.25, p.53 (II), p.54 (III).<\/p>\n

LITERATURE:<\/p>\n

Dyce Collection<\/em>, 1874, 161, no. 1230, as designed by Bandinelli.<\/p>\n

Voss, 1920, 188, as strongly influenced by Bandinelli\u2019s Massacre of the Innocents<\/em>, engraved by Marco Dente, and by Baccio\u2019s Martyrdom of St. Lawrence<\/em>, engraved by Marcantonio.<\/p>\n

Pittaluga, 1928, 174, Fig. 110, and 175, Fig. 11.<\/p>\n

Antal, 1928-1929 (1966, 55).<\/p>\n

Kusenberg, 1931, 27-28, 163, Pl. xx, 2 (State III) as Michelangelesque, with the disposition of the figures influenced by Bandinelli.<\/p>\n

De Witt, 1938, 52, lists the Salamanca print in the Uffizi but wrongly says there is an impression of the second state in this collection.<\/p>\n

Becherucci, 1944 (1949, 30).<\/p>\n

Barocchi, 1950, 65, 174, and Figs. 42-43 (Uffizi, IV), as Raphaelesque and Bandinellian.<\/p>\n

Petrucci, 1964, 45.<\/p>\n

Poirier, 1964, 61.\u00a0 Zerner, \u201cCaraglio,\u201d 1972, 693; III, Fig. 5 (London, II).<\/p>\n

Campbell, in RISD, 1973, 80-81, no. 87, Fig. (New York, III), as representing Vesta Reconciling the Romans and the Sabines<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ferrara and Gaeta Bertel\u00e0, 1975, no. 172 (Bologna, IV).<\/p>\n

Borroni and Kozakiewicz, 1976, 616.<\/p>\n

Borea, 1979, 370, and Fig. 224 (Vienna, II), thought the finished print was made on another plate using as its model an impression made from Caraglio\u2019s unfinished plate.<\/p>\n

Borea, 1980, 248, 250, nos. 619 (London, II), 620 (Florence, IV), 250 Fig. (London, II).<\/p>\n

Darragon, 1983, 46, n. 7, 64, 70, n. 35, Fig. 47 (London, II).<\/p>\n

Boorsch and Spike, IB<\/em>, 28, 1985, 202 (London, 1873-5-10-222).<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1987, 24, 40, 140-143, no. 47, with Fig. (Paris, I).<\/p>\n

Massari, 1989, 117.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1989, 9, 14, Fig. 27 (Paris, I).<\/p>\n

Ciardi and Mugnaini, 1991, 30, as datable in 1527.<\/p>\n

Franklin, 1994, 134, 136, 160.<\/p>\n

Ciardi, 1994, 31, 34, Fig. (Paris, I), 84, Fig. (Florence, III), 85, the architectural background from Donatello.<\/p>\n

Harpath, 1994, 362-363, Fig. 4 (Paris, I), the two nudes at the lower right related to Uffizi 6485F, which he attributes to Rosso [RD.10<\/a>].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In his account of the career of Caraglio, Vasari states that the \u201cratto delle sabine\u201d was begun by the engraver \u201cper il Rosso\u201d after the two prints designed by the latter for the Loves of the Gods<\/em>.\u00a0 The plate was not completed at the time of the Sack of Rome early in May 1527 and was not finished later by Caraglio because Rosso left Rome.\u00a0 Only thereafter, when the plate fell into the hands of the \u201cstampatori,\u201d was it completed by an engraver who did not understand what he was doing, resulting in a \u201ccattiva cosa.\u201d\u00a0 The states of this print clearly show this to have been the case.\u00a0 What is finished of the first and second states by Caraglio is very finely and subtly engraved, showing, one might assume, the sensitively rendered chiaroscuro and details of Rosso\u2019s disegno di stampa<\/em>.\u00a0 The finished print shows its very crude completion by an engraver, who, besides filling in the incomplete parts of the plate, also here and there worked slightly over the parts finished by Caraglio.\u00a0 No other prints by Caraglio after Rosso\u2019s designs show inscriptions within the pictorial area of the engraving, strongly suggesting that those of this print were not originally intended.<\/p>\n

Rosso would seem to have made the design for this print in the spring of 1527, after the two designs for the Loves of the Gods<\/em>.\u00a0 The design for the Romans and the Sabines<\/em> would have to have been made sufficiently before early May to allow Caraglio to have engraved as much as he did before the Sack.\u00a0 One may ask why Caraglio did not finish the plate himself after the Sack.\u00a0 Vasari says it was because Rosso had departed, implying, one could conclude, that the engraver and artist worked so closely together that the latter could not work alone.\u00a0 However, one could also conclude that Caraglio no longer had Rosso\u2019s disegno di stampa<\/em>, either because it was destroyed or because Rosso took it away with him.\u00a0 It should also be pointed out that this print was not, it seems, commissioned by Baviera.\u00a0 After the Sack, Caraglio was working for him and was well occupied with engraving the remainder of the Loves of the Gods<\/em> designed by Perino del Vaga.\u00a0 The engraver may not have had the time to complete independently Rosso\u2019s composition.\u00a0 It is also possible that without Baviera\u2019s help Caraglio would not have been able to print and market the Romans and the Sabines<\/em>.<\/p>\n

From the appearance of the shading and details of the finished print, it is clear that the second engraver did not have Rosso\u2019s disegno di stampa<\/em> to work from.\u00a0 Otherwise he would not have left in such an incomprehensible state the arrangement of the steps at the far right.\u00a0 Consequently, it is only from the two unfinished states that Rosso\u2019s and Caraglio\u2019s intentions can be understood.\u00a0 Impressions of the third and fourth states that I have seen all show the parts completed by Caraglio worn down considerably.\u00a0 It could be that these are all late impressions.\u00a0 But it is also possible that the second engraver worked over the entire plate somewhat before he began engraving on it to reduce the darkness of the very rich original shadows that he knew he could not carry through in the parts he was to finish.2<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Except for the added Salamanca address, the fourth state is not discernibly different from the third.\u00a0 It is possible that the third state is also due to Salamanca, who may have commissioned the completion of the print.\u00a0 It is not known when the plate was finished, although this must have taken place before Salamanca died in 1562.<\/p>\n

Although Vasari called the print the \u201cratto delle Sabine,\u201d probably because the finished engraving has this title inscribed upon it as well as a Latin phrase at the lower left indicating the same subject, this cannot be what the scene represents.\u00a0 On the basis of Livy\u2019s The Early History of Rome<\/em>, Book I, and the identification of the clothed woman in the middle of the foreground as the goddess Vesta seated on her favorite animal, the donkey, Campbell (see above) suggested that the print should be titled Vesta Reconciling the Romans and the Sabines<\/em>.\u00a0 Livy does not mention Vesta and it is not necessarily true that the central woman is this goddess, especially as the nude man behind her appears also to be seated on a donkey.\u00a0 With her right hand held out with the palm down, the woman, who may be older than the other women and who does not have a child with her, is attempting to calm the battle.\u00a0 To the right of her is an old bearded man, seated as well on an animal, who appears to be encouraging the young warriors to listen to the peace-making efforts of the central woman.\u00a0 A donkey also appears in the crowd at the left – one long ear is visible – along with two camels and a large feline animal.<\/p>\n

COPY, DRAWING: London, British Museum, Malcolm Coll., no. 1895-9-15-556 (Fig.London, Lombard<\/a>).\u00a0 Pen and ink and wash over red chalk, 20.9 x 28.1.\u00a0 LITERATURE: Antal, 1928-1929 (1966, 87, n. 5), as by Lambert Lombard (but wrongly as after Rosso\u2019s Massacre of the Innocents<\/em>). \u00a0Kusenberg, 1931, 148, no. 6, as a copy after the finished print.<\/p>\n

Formerly attributed to Rosso, the drawing is now given to Lambert Lombard in the museum.\u00a0 It is a rather free copy of the finished print.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

See E.130<\/a>, Anonymous, Mars and Venus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

<\/a>1<\/sup> The two words at the top of the print translate as: \u201crape of the Sabine women.\u201d\u00a0 The line at the bottom is a misquotation, with the last word changed, of a line in Ovid\u2019s Ars Amatoria <\/em>(bk. I, 1.131).\u00a0 SEISTI on the print should be \u201cSCISTI.\u201d\u00a0 The last word, TVIS, is solus<\/em> in Ovid.\u00a0 Ovid\u2019s line can be translated as: \u201cAh, Romulus, thou only didst know how to bestow bounty on thy warriors\u201d (Ovid 1929, 20-21).\u00a0 The inscription on the engraving is translated: \u201cAh, Romulus, thou didst know how to bestow bounty on thy soldiers.\u201d\u00a0 The late Vassar College Professor James Day identified and translated the passage for me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a>2<\/sup> Borea, 1979, n. 77, thought the finished composition (States III and IV) was wholly newly engraved on another plate, but careful observation of the cutting and other \u201caccidental\u201d marks show that the plates are the same.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Engraving by Gian Jacopo Caraglio, 35.7 x 50.1 L (London, II). Four states: I.\u00a0 Unfinished.\u00a0 The entire composition has been engraved in outline and interior details have also been defined with lines; the upper center of the print has been finely finished with a few figures outlined only and others incompletely modelled, the architecture at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":824,"menu_order":30,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3935","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3935"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4793,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3935\/revisions\/4793"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}