STEEL ENGRAVING – “SALVATOR ROSA” from the painting by Daniel Maclise, engraved by F. Joubert, printed in 1885.  This engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 7 ½” x 5 5/8”, and is matted to 12” x 16” for easy framing.

       In the print before us we have an instance of an artist illustrating the early difficulties of another.  The incident in the life of the great Neapolitan, which forms the subject of this picture was suggested by a passage in Lady Morgan’s “Life of Salvator Rosa.”   In the earlier part of his career the far greater portion of his pictures were executed on primed paper, his limited means not permitting him to purchase canvas; these were sold to the Jewish dealers, who kept stalls in the Strada della Carita.  It is an interview with one of those questionable patrons, which is here illustrated by Maclise with a feeling and in a manner, which differ entirely from the spirit of most of his productions.  It is a work of sterling merit, in which the principal are brought forward in a way that at once indicates the story; while the various accessories composing the usual contents of the connoisseur’s bazaar are put together with the happiest effect.  Yet if the biography of the Italian is correctly handed to us, there is an error in introducing a portion of the Rialto at Venice, as we do no find Salvator ever visited that city, though he was at Rome and Florence.

    Salvator Rosa was, in some respects, an ambitious man, and there was one end to which he leaned with the whole force of his nature; it is his landscapes, which have reserved for him a niche in the temple of fame, but the aim of his life was to become a great historical painter.  Maclise, then – whose success in this branch of Art was very marked, and to whom we owe the fine frescoes in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords, “ The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher on the Evening of the Battle of Waterloo” and “The Death of Nelson at Trafalgar” – did right in shedding more light on the struggles of a man who made so great efforts towards the same goal.  It is seldom a satisfactory process to drag down an old master from his pedestal to compare him with a painter whose notoriety belongs to that period in time.  Any such comparison needs to be made with infinite care and reverence, the thinker being most careful to make full allowance for his own inability to appreciate the grandeur of a bright light dimly discerned through the haze of time.  We do not, then, offer any opinion on the comparative merits of the two artists whose names are now before us in the special branch of Art to which reference has been made; suffice it to say that while the one, owner of a high ambition, failed, the other; in the aim to which he directed his work, was consistent, complete, and successful.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes, which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates.  Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence.  This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.  Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, and lithographs are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one.  Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated, thus giving the buyer an idea of its age.

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