STEEL ENGRAVING – “IN THE GULF OF VENICE” from the painting by Clarkson Stanfield, engraved by R. Wallis, printed in 1883.  This engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 10” x 6 ¾”, and is matted to 12” x 16” for easy framing.

     No part of Europe has, we may confidently affirm, afforded such prolific subjects for the artist’s pencil as Venice and its immediate neighborhood; of the modern English landscape painter especially it has been a favorite place of resort; and although every year we see the now moldering and almost tenantless walls of the “City of the Sea,” and the blue tranquil waters of the lagoons, under some new aspect on the canvas, one can scarcely ever weary of that which is always beautiful even in decay, and a memento of the power and grandeur of a people who once acted a conspicuous part in the world’s history.

      That portion of the Adriatic coast, which constitutes the Gulf of Venice, features of scenery not unlike those that are found in other parts of Italy lying on the sea; but it is also distinguished by peculiarities that unmistakably show its contiguity to Venice, such as edifices rising immediately out of the water.  We have an example of this in Mr. Stanfield’s picture, where the group of buildings, like those of Venice, are evidently erected on piles, and are connected with the mainland by a small bridge.  On the elevated bank to the right of this are two other groups of buildings, separated from each other, having the appearance of ancient Italian castles, and a range of hills, some of which are of considerable height, form, by their varied undulations and broken outlines, a picturesque background to the picture.

    No artist understood better than Mr. Stanfield the value of judicious accessorial introductions, either as points of light or shadow or as objects to give distance; the boat to the right answers all these purpose; the bottle and the small bits of stone reflected in the shallows not only relieve the rather monotonous tone of the quiet waters, but materially assist in throwing back the rest of the composition into its proper place.

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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