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Lot Essay
Luca Bertelli was a libraio (bookseller), engraver, and one of the leading publishers in Venice in the second half of the 16th century. He collaborated with various Italian artists and engravers such as Martino Rota, Gaspare Oselli and Agostino Carracci. Domenico Campagnola, towards the end of his career, made a series of drawings which were given to or ended up in the hands of Bertelli and were used as models for some engravings. One of the drawings, the Banquet of the Rich Man and Lazarus, set in a Landscape is in the Morgan Library, New York (inv. no. IV, 64; for the print, see Le Blanc 6).
It is generally assumed that this plate was engraved by Luca Bertelli himself. The tablet at the lower left corner reads 'Dominicus Campagnola inventor. Luca Bertelli f.'. The 'f.' might stand for 'fecit' (made or engraved, in Latin) or 'formis' (published, in Latin). Most of the engravings published by Luca bear the inscription 'formis', identifying him as the publisher, rather than the engraver, and it seems likely that these plates, including the present one, were engraved by another hand, yet to be identified.
The present impression is superior to the ones we could find in major public collections.
It is generally assumed that this plate was engraved by Luca Bertelli himself. The tablet at the lower left corner reads 'Dominicus Campagnola inventor. Luca Bertelli f.'. The 'f.' might stand for 'fecit' (made or engraved, in Latin) or 'formis' (published, in Latin). Most of the engravings published by Luca bear the inscription 'formis', identifying him as the publisher, rather than the engraver, and it seems likely that these plates, including the present one, were engraved by another hand, yet to be identified.
The present impression is superior to the ones we could find in major public collections.