This item is a steel engraving from the painting by Rossi called “THE PROFESSOR’S LECTURE.”  It was engraved by P. Lightfoot and published in 1880.  The engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 10” x 8”, and is matted to 11” x 14” for easy framing.

            No better illustration of the modern school of Italian painting could well be given than Signor Rossi’s “The Professor’s Lecture.”  Could any picture be more “opposed to Italy’s old system and ideas, or more subservient to a foreign demand, exacting as to technical execution and garishness of subject, or better illustrate a school of genre painting, which searches the most picturesque periods of the Renaissance for its subjects, which pushes technical workmanship to its utmost limits of imitative excellence, and which serves up a picture which has no other raison d’etre than the artist’s fancy, backed by an ample stock of studio bric-a-brac, properties, and good models.”  We must here qualify an assertion made by Mr. Jarves, that it is “A foreign demand, principally English and American,” which has create and fostered this school.  Not until a considerable time after its foundation did its productions find their way in any numbers to these countries; they have never found much favor in either of them, nor, we trust, will they.  Their brilliancy of coloring, novelty of treatment, and undoubted cleverness, for a short time attracted the attention of amateurs, who, however, wearied of them once they came to be subjected to the test of being lived with.  As an illustration of a passing fashion of Art, “The Professor’s Lecture” is of interest.

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.