Prints & Drawings

“A widely consulted sourcebook for artists” (Mormando)

Unrecorded, large-format broadside offering ‘true depictions’ of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the apostles Peter and Paul based on a recently-rediscovered Byzantine text. Ransomed from the Turks in the early 16th century, the sole surviving manuscript of Nicephorus’ Ecclesiastical History contained sensationally precise details of the physical features of these figures; thanks to its novelty and the circumstances of its rescue, the text became a canonical and infallible source on early Church history for Protestants and Catholics alike following its publication in 1553. Franco Mormando (2007) has recently shed light on the Nicephorus’ importance to 17th century artists, particularly those engaged in the service/business of the visual Counter-Reformation; but while Mormando finds evidence for the use of Nicephorus’ descriptions among artists such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the present pair of related broadsides push the reception of Nicephorus in artistic spheres back several decades earlier.

Unique 18th-Century Watercolors of the Deepest Amazon by the Boundary Commissioner in charge of the Spanish Survey party

A collection of five stunning and previously unknown watercolors illustrating dramatic scenes from the joint Spanish-Portuguese boundary commission sent to demarcate the frontiers of the Amazon following the 1777 Treaty of San Ildefonso between Portugal and Spain.

Stunning illuminated Spanish giant choirbook leaf

This is an astonishing Spanish illuminated leaf, both for decoration and scale, with the four borders finely illuminated, the border is black-ruled on the outside and gold framed on the inside, the background is deep blue with gold and green foliage with white, pink and flowers and strawberries and a butterfly, playing among the foliage fronds are three putti: one holds a club and a shield and is holding a mock-battle with a flightless bird; three large miniatures of angels with multi-coloured wings are shown kneeling on grass holding up the burial cloth of Christ showing the blood of the Five Wounds, each with the inscription "miserere mei”, the backgrounds of the miniatures deep blue with liquid gold penwork. Within the text is a large and elegant initial ‘G’.

Exceptional collection of watercolors from Colombia from the earliest stages of the Republic including works from two well-known Colombian artists

Wonderful iconographic record of Colombia in the last years of the 1830’s, comprised of 27 watercolors, one of the largest groups of watercolors we have seen of Colombia, portraying local costumes, landscapes, city views, the native population, etc., the work of mostly two talented artists: Jose S. Castillo and Joseph Pio Dominguez, all mostly dated from 1837, one dated 1832.

A recently-discovered watercolor of New York, contemporary with the Stamp Act Riots and one of only a handful of manuscript views of the city from before the Revolution.

Artist Pieter Idsertsz depicts New York as seen from the southwest, from a vantage point across the East River in Brooklyn, possibly at Red Hook. The city is shown from the southern tip of Manhattan Island to just above the site of the present Brooklyn Bridge, with many fine residences against a backdrop of a large windmill and impressive churches. At far left two fine vessels sail down the East River toward New York Bay, men fish from a small boat in the foreground, and a crane and a gallows-complete with hanging victim-lend a jarring note at center right.

Studies of Michelangelo's original, un-bowdlerized designs for the Last Judgment, owned by Leopoldo Cicognara

Album of seventy studies after the "Last Judgment", preserving Michelangelo's original fresco designs and thus almost certainly made during his lifetime, as the frescoes were bowdlerized on the orders of the Council of Trent shortly after his death in 1564. From the famous library of the Italian art historian and collector Leopoldo Cicognara (1767-1834).

The Siege of Montpellier, engraved newssheet, apparently the sole copy known

This engraved plan of Montpellier, published in 1622 by Melchior Tavernier, documents the city’s fortifications and its strategic landscape in the aftermath of the siege of Montpellier (1622) during the Huguenot rebellions against Louis XIII. The bird’s-eye view presents the newly reinforced bastioned fortifications, a product of the French crown’s efforts to consolidate control over Protestant strongholds in the south of France. The elaborate star-shaped defenses depicted here reflect the modernized military engineering principles of the early seventeenth century, designed to withstand artillery bombardment and siege warfare.

Huguenot Rebellions, the Siege of Montauban, engraved broadside

This engraved siege plan of Montauban, published in 1621 by Nicolas de Mathonière, illustrates the fortifications of the city and the surrounding military encampments during the siege of Montauban by Louis XIII. The bird’s-eye perspective captures the bastioned defenses, siegeworks, and artillery positions, while the accompanying letterpress text provides a historical and tactical account of the siege.

Superb Spanish Romantic drawings representing the alphabet with mythological themes

Exceptional Spanish drawings of the alphabet allegorical to a Greek or Roman deity, by a Spanish artist, bound in France contemporaneously; each of the drawings represent a letter from the alphabet corresponding to a mythological (mostly Roman) figure, all in strong vibrant colors heightened in gold and silver(?) in baroque or romantic style, naked figures dominate the scene, which leads one to believe the artist, of Spanish origin, probably executed these drawings in France, or studied in France, and which would explain the fact that it is housed in a fine French red morocco.

Illustrated 17th century newssheet, a rarity on the Siege of Vienna

A very rare, separately issued broadside plan of the 1683 Siege of Vienna. This large engraving represents the first known map by the Viennese military engineer Leander Anguissola, prepared in collaboration with the engineer Bartholemeo Camuccio and engraved by Domenico Rossetti. Issued as a news broadside in the aftermath of the siege, it combines a meticulously rendered bird’s-eye plan of the city’s fortifications with an extensive letterpress explanation in French, printed on a separate sheet and joined to the plate at publication.

Perhaps the first series of landscape prints made in France

Exceptional series of fantastical landscapes by du Cerceau, the first such series printed in France, here transformed with remarkable contemporary color and highlighted with gold; this is also the first series printed by du Cerceau and represents the birth of independent landscape printing in France. This album is the only known copy of these engravings in contemporary color, it is also the only known example of one of the etchings, not present in any of the other 8 copies known; overall, it is a significant discovery for the history of French printmaking history and Renaissance art.

Rare collection of engravings by the Spanish Bayeu brothers

Fine album of engravings by Francisco Bayeu and Ramon Bayeu, some engraved by Ramon, in a magnificent binding by Spanish master-binder Brugalla; the Bayeu´s were part of the group of artist involved in the Real Academia de San Fernando, which housed the Calcografia Nacional, in fact to date, a wonderful Bayeu painting is exhibited at the Real Academia museum. The Calcografia gives news of having 14 engravings by the artist in 1796. His brother, Ramon Bayeu, from whom we also find examples of his work here, had a similar life story, however, was primarily known for his designs for tapestries, in 1763 he was given a position at the Royal Tapestry Factory by Charles III, he collaborated on commissions with Francisco de Goya, his brother-in-law.