Based on Leonardo da Vinci's drawing (1452-1519) No. 2247
Etching technology
Modern proof printed on handmade Jeanjean paper: 25 x 33 cm
From an original 10.3 x 12.5 cm plaque from the Collection of
the Chalcographie of the Louvre, Inv. 193
Dated, numbered, stamped and sold with a certificate of authenticity.
Set of 10 final draws in June 2019.
The last ones are the brass plates engraved before 1848, which can no longer be used to
printing at the risk of degrading the engraving. They are then stored in the
Louvre Museum reserves.
Le Compte de Caylus, (1692-1765), Louis XIV's little nephew, returns to the Academy of
letters in 1714. Trained in drawing by Watteau and engraving by Mariette, he interprets
the drawings of the King's Cabinet to which he has access. This represents, for the
Chalcographie of the Louvre, a set of 223 plates engraved after the greatest
artists.
Leonardo da Vinci is one of them. Florentine painter of the Renaissance, he is known as
scientist, engineer, inventor, philosopher, writer...
The drawing represented by Caylus' account can be understood as a struggle between
the world of evil, of darkness, personified by the parade of fighting animals among themselves
and that of Truth, personified by the sun, in the rays are reflected on the
mirror shield.
Unlike the original design, the reading direction is reversed. Indeed, engraving
requires engraving the pattern "upside down" to obtain a print identical to
the original work.
The motif was engraved using etching technique. The matrix is covered with a
varnish on which, once, the artist traces his drawing, exposing the metal. The board
thus drawn is immersed in an acid bath that attacks the copper and thus digs the
reason. It takes long dives to get deep blacks, while a few
seconds are enough to obtain the light greys.
Chalcographie (from the Greek klalkos - copper and graph - writing), means engraving on
copper and this term also refers to prints printed from copper plate.
metal than the place where they are kept, and made. Since 1895, the Réunion des
national museums - Grand Palais is in charge of publishing, distribution and
marketing of prints from the Louvre Museum's collection.
It is constantly getting richer.
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