{"id":4397,"date":"2012-04-05T16:19:46","date_gmt":"2012-04-05T20:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vassar.edu\/rosso\/?page_id=4397"},"modified":"2012-12-21T16:34:38","modified_gmt":"2012-12-21T21:34:38","slug":"e-156-anonymous-christ-in-a-niche-i","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/catalogues\/engravings\/e-156-anonymous-christ-in-a-niche-i\/","title":{"rendered":"E.156 Christ in a Niche I"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

E.156 Anonymous, Christ in a Niche I<\/p><\/div>\n

Engraving, Anonymous, 24.4 x 12 L (New York).<\/p>\n

Fig.E.156<\/a> (New York)<\/p>\n

COLLECTION: New York, 32.92.27 (25), as by Boyvin (upper left and lower right corners and bottom edge torn, repaired, and redrawn; lower left corner torn.\u00a0 Inscribed in pencil on mount: Ren\u00e9 Boyvin – Le Christ – morceau non decrit<\/em>.\u00a0 PROVENANCE: Unidentified collector\u2019s mark in the lower margin showing the letters PD in a square).<\/p>\n

LITERATURE:<\/p>\n

Eisler, 1969, 244, n. 162, may be referring to this print as the one by Boyvin that he believes was done after the central figure in Cherubino Alberti\u2019s engraving of Rosso\u2019s Altar<\/em>.\u00a0 For other bibliography on this image, see E.4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1987, 41, 352-354, no. 111, with Fig. (New York).<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, 1988 (1989), 11, 16, n. 21, as after a lost French drawing by Rosso.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1989, 16, Fig. 31.<\/p>\n

Ciardi, 1994, 54, Fig. (New York), 55, as showing knowledge of Michelangelo\u2019s Minerva<\/em> Christ<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This image was used by Cherubino Alberti to fill the central niche of his engraving after Rosso\u2019s Design for an Altar<\/em> (Fig.D.38a<\/a>), to the lower part of which he added figures from the Milan-Boyvin engraving of the Nymph of Fontainebleau<\/em>, also after Rosso (Fig.E.103<\/a>).\u00a0 Alberti\u2019s use of the Christ in a Niche<\/em> to complete the Altar<\/em> engraving, which is inscribed with Rosso\u2019s name, might indicate that he knew the former was designed by Rosso.\u00a0 However, Alberti used a copy of a copy of this print, Christ in a Niche III<\/em> (Fig.E.158<\/a>), rather than the one catalogued here.<\/p>\n

The body of Christ is very similar to one kind that Rosso frequently uses, as for his Mercury<\/em> (Fig.E.38<\/a>) and Saturn<\/em> (Fig.E.26<\/a>) of the Gods in Niches<\/em> series of 1526.\u00a0 But what is also especially similar to what appears in Rosso\u2019s art is the light raking across the figure from one side, hence casting into various levels of relief the anatomy of the body, as found also in the Gods in Niches<\/em> and in such a drawing as the study for the figure of St. Sebastian of the Dei Altarpiece (Fig.D.7<\/a>).\u00a0 But the figure of Christ is not anatomically as specifically detailed as those figures nor so tense in his pose.\u00a0 In these respects he resembles Rosso\u2019s Empedocles- St. Roch<\/em> (Fig.D.80a<\/a>).\u00a0 Where the anatomy of that figure is visible, it is very much like that of the Christ in a Niche<\/em>.\u00a0 Their upraised hands are almost identical.\u00a0 The ease of Christ\u2019s pose can also be related to Judith\u2019s in Rosso\u2019s drawing in Los Angeles (Fig.D.84a<\/a>).\u00a0 It is most likely that the Christ in a Niche<\/em> was invented about the same time, around 1538-1540.<\/p>\n

The engraving was certainly based on a lost drawing by Rosso, probably of the kind of the Empedocles-St. Roch <\/em>and the Judith and Holofernes<\/em>.\u00a0 The print even seems to show an attempt to imitate something of their kind of draughtsmanship.\u00a0 With Christ\u2019s wound shown on his left side, the print must be in reverse, which seems also indicated by the fact that Christ gestures towards the chalice with his left hand.<\/p>\n

For the use of this image in a window at \u00c9couen, see under Christ in a Niche II<\/em>, E.157<\/a>.\u00a0 The precise source of the representation used at \u00c9couen still needs to be determined.\u00a0 If it is the print catalogued here, then the print must date before 1545, making it unlikely that it is by Boyvin.<\/p>\n

COPY: Anonymous, Christ in a Niche II<\/em>.\u00a0 See the following catalogue entry, E.157<\/a>, with further bibliography on this image.<\/p>\n

For other versions of this image, see the anonymous Christ in a Niche III<\/em>, E.158<\/a>, and under Martino Rota, E.106<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Engraving, Anonymous, 24.4 x 12 L (New York). Fig.E.156 (New York) COLLECTION: New York, 32.92.27 (25), as by Boyvin (upper left and lower right corners and bottom edge torn, repaired, and redrawn; lower left corner torn.\u00a0 Inscribed in pencil on mount: Ren\u00e9 Boyvin – Le Christ – morceau non decrit.\u00a0 PROVENANCE: Unidentified collector\u2019s mark in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":824,"menu_order":166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4397","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4397","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=4397"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5632,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4397\/revisions\/5632"}],"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=4397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}