Enter the world of antique prints
It is good for mind’s health
.I am a collector of old master prints of the period ranging from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. Thanks to this passion I have learned a lot about Italian and European history and art. In fact, I documented myself on the greatest masters of painting, drawing, sculpture and architecture, and studied the relationships that these artists have had with the world of print.
Until today I have collected several hundred specimens of graphic art and I think, I am not sure whether rightly or wrongly, that I have put together one of the most distinguished private collections of antique prints in Italy. The experience that I have been able to develop in this field has led me to a personal consideration that basically has become the reason for this website.
The printed representation, which has played a key role in the development and evolution of thought and art, is sadly not very well represented in the cultural heritage of my country. Italy that has been for centuries the cradle of every art form, and was able to welcome and appreciate artists and their genius as well as to enrich in time their culture and artistic sensitivity. The art of engraving, only in Italy, is relegated to a niche topic, knowledge of a few passionate experts, when it should be disseminated and more popular. Printmaking is within the reach of all those who, possessing a sensitive soul, turn round with interest to every artistic product.
There are very few books or sites that talk of prints, almost always treatises for experts, or with a specific basic knowledge, or the so-called reasoned catalogues that are nothing but a detailed list of the works of this or that artist. Popular publications on engravings are very rare, perhaps because printmaking is considered as a minor collateral branch of art. On the contrary it was and is a very important tool in the development and diffusion of figurative art.
For an example in this regard, we could look at the close relationship between Raphael and Marcantonio Raimondi (one of the most distinguished engravers for intaglio printing around the XVI century) that convinced many that Marcantonio lived for some time in the workshop of the Urbinate Master.
The cooperation between Raphael and Marcantonio Raimondi was very profitable for both artists. Marcantonio had great fame by translating the drawings and paintings of the Master and Raphael was able to make his deeds well known through the circulation of prints by Marcantonio, thus affecting all European art.
On these bases I hope to give a small, modest contribution, certainly not for those who already know, but to the others to help them better understand the world of antique prints that is so undeservedly neglected.
