Seated Old Shepherd Gesturing towards the Sky and Speaking to Nude Male Surrounded by Tools of Measurement
Original title: Seated old shepherd gesturing towards the sky and speaking to nude male surrounded by tools of measurement
kurzbeschreibung
An old shepherd sits with one hand raised toward the sky while turning to a naked man; measuring tools lie on the ground before them. Marcantonio Raimondi engraved this scene around 1500–34. The drawing follows Renaissance forms with carefully placed lines and graded hatching.
Description
On the right stands a naked man holding a long staff, a cloth around his neck; on the left sits the aged shepherd, one hand pointing heavenward, the other accompanying his speech. Trees and a single trunk articulate the middle ground, beyond which a landscape with buildings opens under clouds. Tools and measuring instruments are scattered across the foreground. The arrangement feels balanced, the tree forming the center; the engraving remains monochrome, with light evenly distributed across the surface.
Context
Raimondi, an Italian Renaissance engraver, became known above all for reproductive prints after Raphael. This small sheet measures about 7.5 × 5 cm and was made around 1500–34, during the years Raimondi worked in Rome. The appearance of a shepherd with measuring tools suggests an allegorical or scientific context of a kind common in the Renaissance. A second state of the engraving exists, indicating that the plate was reworked later.
Impact
Clear, deliberate lines and a calm layout define this small sheet. The symmetrical arrangement and varied shading give it a factual, almost instructive quality. At the same time, the encounter between the two figures remains narrative and ambiguous, so that one begins to ponder what is taking place.
Technique
For engraving, lines are cut into a copper plate and then transferred to paper with printing ink. The way fine strokes and hatching bring out textures and bodily forms corresponds to Renaissance engraving. As this is the second state, the plate was reworked after the first impression.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)