The Renaissance of Etching

Jenkins, Catherine, Nadine M. Orenstein, and Freyda Spira, with contributions by Peter Fuhring, Donald J. La Rocca, Anne Varick Lauder, Christof Metzger, Femke Speelberg, Ad Stijnman, Pierre Terjanian, and Julia Zaunbauer (2019)

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Description

The Renaissance of Etching is a groundbreaking study of the origins of the etched print. Initially used as a method for decorating armor, etching was reimagined as a printmaking technique at the end of the fifteenth century in Germany and spread rapidly across Europe. Unlike engraving and woodcut, which required great skill and years of training, the comparative ease of etching allowed a wide variety of artists to exploit the expanding market for prints. The early pioneers of the medium include some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, such as Albrecht Dürer, Parmigianino, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who paved the way for future printmakers like Rembrandt, Goya, and many others in their wake. Remarkably, contemporary artists still use etching in much the same way as their predecessors did five hundred years ago.

Richly illustrated and including a wealth of new information, The Renaissance of Etching explores how artists in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and France developed the new medium of etching, and how it became one of the most versatile and enduring forms of printmaking.

Table of contents

Director's Foreword
Acknowledgments
Lenders to the Exhibition and Contributors

Bitten with Spirit: Etching Materials and Techniques in the Sixteenth Century
Nadine M. Orenstein and Ad Stijnman

The Iron Age: The Beginnings of Etching about 1500
Christof Metzger
entries 1–26

Tentative Beginnings: Etching in the Netherlands from 1520 to 1550
Nadine M. Orenstein
entries 27–38

Expanding Discourses in German Etching: Albrecht Altdorfer and His Legacy
Freyda Spira
entries 39–54

Drawing on the Plate: Parmigianino and Early Etching in Italy
Catherine Jenkins
entries 55–75

A Painter's Medium: Etching in Verona and Venice
Catherine Jenkins
entries 76–94

Etching in Renaissance France
Catherine Jenkins
entries 95–115

The Professionalization of Etching: The Netherlands in the 1550s
Nadine M. Orenstein
entries 116–128

Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Photograph Credits

About the authors

Catherine Jenkins is an independent scholar.

Nadine M. Orenstein is Drue Heinz Curator in Charge of the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Freyda Spira is Associate Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Peter Fuhring is Scientific Advisor, Fondation Custodia / Collection Frits Lugt, Paris.

Donald J. La Rocca is Curator, Department of Arms and Armor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Anne Varick Lauder is an Independent Scholar.

Christof Metzger is Curator in Charge of Drawings and Prints, The Albertina Museum, Vienna.

Femke Speelberg is Associate Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Ad Stijnman is an Independent Scholar.

Pierre Terjanian is Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Curator in Charge, Department of Arms and Armor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Julia Zaunbauer is Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints, The Albertina Museum, Vienna.

Press reviews

Alexander Adams Art

"The Renaissance of Etching is an ideal reference work for anyone interested in the development of printmaking and the art of the Late Renaissance."

Wall Street Journal

"Magnificent."

Antiques and the Arts Weekly

"Offers a comprehensive overview."

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Exhibition

The Renaissance of Etching

October 23, 2019–January 20, 2020

The history of printmaking has been punctuated by moments of great invention that have completely changed the course of the medium. The beginning of etching in Europe in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries—when the technique moved out of the workshop of armor decorators and into those of printmakers and painters—represents one of those pivotal moments. Etching, essentially drawing on the surface of a metal plate, had an ease that opened the door for all kinds of artists to make prints. The pioneers of the medium included some of the greatest painters of the Renaissance, such as Albrecht Dürer, Parmigianino, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

This exhibition will trace the first seventy years of the etched print (circa 1490 to circa 1560), from its emergence in the workshop of the German printmaker and armor decorator Daniel Hopfer to the years when a range of artists from Germany, Flanders, Italy, and France began experimenting with etching. Approximately 125 etchings, produced by both renowned and lesser-known artists, will be displayed alongside a number of drawings, printing plates, illustrated books, and armor.

Plan Ahead

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