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Lot Essay
Giuseppe Scolari is regarded as one of the most original masters of the Venetian woodcut tradition. One of the few Italian artists to have both designed and cut his own blocks, his prints are characterised by his expressive use of the burin, knife and chisel to cut long, sweeping lines into a dark ground.
The Rape of Proserpina is Scolari's only non-religious woodcut. It is also one of only two woodcuts that he printed in two different states, modifying the design by removing large portions of the wood and inserting new plugs, which were then re-cut with the compositional revisions. This impression is of the second, final state in which the heads of the horses are substantially reworked to heighten the expressive effect of their rearing forms on the brink of the abyss.
One of his most dynamic compositions, The Rape of Proserpina has been described as a herald of the Baroque aesthetic. As Rosand and Muraro suggest: 'the central group of struggling protagonists - although possibly inspired by Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine - can stand comparison with the early sculptural treatment of the Proserpina theme by Bernini, with which it shares not only the harmonically unified resolution of conflict but also the grand operatic gesture of lament' (D. Rosand and M. Muraro, Titian and the Venetian Woodcut, Washington D.C., 1976, p. 313).
The Rape of Proserpina is Scolari's only non-religious woodcut. It is also one of only two woodcuts that he printed in two different states, modifying the design by removing large portions of the wood and inserting new plugs, which were then re-cut with the compositional revisions. This impression is of the second, final state in which the heads of the horses are substantially reworked to heighten the expressive effect of their rearing forms on the brink of the abyss.
One of his most dynamic compositions, The Rape of Proserpina has been described as a herald of the Baroque aesthetic. As Rosand and Muraro suggest: 'the central group of struggling protagonists - although possibly inspired by Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine - can stand comparison with the early sculptural treatment of the Proserpina theme by Bernini, with which it shares not only the harmonically unified resolution of conflict but also the grand operatic gesture of lament' (D. Rosand and M. Muraro, Titian and the Venetian Woodcut, Washington D.C., 1976, p. 313).