The Plague ('The Morbetto') (B. 417; S. &. B. 31)

Details

Marcantonio Raimondi after Raphael
The Plague ('The Morbetto') (B. 417; S. &. B. 31)
engraving, circa 1515-16, a fairly good impression of this rare and important print, showing some wear in the densely hatched areas, with 2-4 mm. margins, in very good condition; together with The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence (B. 104-I) by the same hand after Baccio Bandinelli; an early impression of Parnassus (B. 247 A.) by Raimondi after Raphael, and an engraved copy of The Visitation from The Life of the Virgin (B. 628) after Albrecht Dürer by the same hand
P. 200 x 256 mm., S. 207 x 263 mm. (4)

Literature

Innis H. Shoemaker, Elizabeth Brown, The Engravings of Marcantonio Raimondi, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas, 1981, p. 118, no. 31 (ill.)

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

The present work is closely related to two drawings, one at Windsor and one in the Uffizi. The drawing at Windsor is securely attributed to Raphael, while the Uffizi drawing certainly comes from his workshop. Close examination of the drawings and their relationship to the print has lead to the belief that Raphael might have developed this composition specifically for the engraving by Raimondi, which Carolyn H. Wood called 'certainly one of the most appealing and coloristic works of Marcantonio's entire oeuvre.'

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