Pandora's Box

Details

MONOGRAMMIST Z.B.M (ITALIAN, ACTIVE AROUND 1557)
Pandora's Box
etching with drypoint and engraving, 1557, on laid paper, watermark Star in Diamond and Circle (similar to Heawood 3875, Rome, 1558-64), a very good impression of this rare print, the first state (of two), trimmed to the subject at the sides and to the borderline above and below, a small made-up paper loss at the upper right sheet corner, a short repaired tear at the upper left sheet edge, a short repaired tear at the lower right corner, another at the lower sheet edge, a couple of skilfully repaired, small paper splits and losses at lower right
Sheet 369 x 233 mm.

Literature

Nagler V, no. 2065; Passavant VI, p. 173
S. Welsh Reed & R. Wallace, Italian Etchers of the Renaissance & Baroque, Museum of Fine Arts (exh. cat.), Boston, 1989, no. 21, p. 42-44 (another impression illustrated).
G. Luijten (ed.), La Bella Maniera - Druckgraphik des Manierismus aus der Sammlung Georg Baselitz, Bern & Berlin, 1994, no. 5 (another impression illustrated).

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU or, if the UK has withdrawn from the EU without an agreed transition deal, from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Brought to you by

Tim Schmelcher

tschmelcher@christies.com +44 20 7389 2268

Lot Essay

A preparatory drawing for this print, in the opposite direction, in the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, has been tentatively attributed by Philip Pouncey to Pirro Ligorio (circa 1513-1583).
An impression of the second state, with the monogram and date 1557 partially erased and with a publisher's mark and the date 1643 added at lower right, is illustrated in G. Luijten, La Bella Maniera (op. cit.).

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