Plate 6: figures in boats decorated with mythological subjects using poles to propel them
Original title: Plate 6: figures in boats decorated with mythological subjects using poles to propel them
kurzbeschreibung
Pietro Santi Bartoli’s etching from around 1660 presents a company of strong men propelling a richly adorned boat with paddles. Mythological figures and ornaments embellish the craft; other people and buildings appear in the distance. The sheet belongs to a series dealing with motifs from ancient Rome.
Description
The eye first drifts over the rippling water, then settles on the rowing men in plain garments seated in a boat with lavishly decorated edges. The mythological figures and ornaments on the boat recur on the architectural elements in the background. Lively motion animates the bodies; the entire arrangement remains in black and white, allowing the etching technique to stand out clearly.
Context
Bartoli, a seventeenth-century Italian engraver, was best known for his reproductions of ancient Roman artworks. The etching was made around the mid-1600s, when interest in antiquity and its visual language ran high in Rome and across much of Europe. Nobles and scholars frequently commissioned Bartoli to document ancient reliefs and paintings. The specific model for this plate is not recorded, but it belongs to the tradition of antiquarian illustration.
Impact
The dynamic portrayal of the rowers and the dense ornaments evoke the splendor of ancient processions. Clear lines and the strong black-and-white contrast give the sheet a solemn, almost monumental presence. Without losing clarity, the imagery carries the viewer into a past world full of mythological references.
Technique
Etching is an intaglio process: the drawing is scratched with a needle into an acid-resistant ground on a metal plate, then acid bites the exposed lines deeper before the plate is inked and printed on paper. The delicate lines and hatching in this sheet attest to Bartoli’s high technical skill, with which he achieved precise details and shadow effects.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)