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Description: | bound volume (dimensions 54 x 38 x 7 cms) inscr. on page t.r. hand-written in brown ink "84" CRE SMITH, John; (English; 1652-1743) Part of William Hunter's original bequest, this is one of three volumes which together contain 488 mezzotints, almost all made or published by John Smith. About two thirds are portraits of eminent late Stuart, early Hanoverian persons. The remaining third are subject prints after a wide range of artists and subjects, from mythological and religious scenes after old Italian and Dutch and Flemish masters such as Titian and Rubens to fancy subjects after contemporary French and English painters.
Instrumental in raising the standard of mezzotint portraits, Smith was the first British printmaker to gain a European reputation, and examples of his work were essential for any serious first half of the 18th century European print collection. Hunter's set of volumes is a rare surviving example of a comprehensive collection of mezzotints compiled in the 1730s.
There are no maker or publisher signatures on this print, perhaps a proof before letters, and Smith's involvement with its production is not certain. He is known to have bought many mezzotint plates by his predecessors and contemporaries, republished them and included them in volumes such as this, providing context to his own work. Depicting Saint Jerome living as a hermit in the desert, this print is placed among a group of religious subjects toward the back of the volume. The artist whose work the print reproduced has not been identified but depictions of saints were common in 17th century Italian art, intended to inspire the viewer to a virtuous life. | License: | http://www.hmag.gla.ac.uk/spirit/rights/ | Publisher: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Rights holder: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Subjects: | BIBLE : NEW TESTAMENT : CHRIST : JEROME : HIERONYMUS : SAINT : WILDERNESS : SKULL : BOOK : LATIN FATHERS : CHURCH FATHERS : HUNTER VOLUME : | Source: | Hunterian Museum | Creator: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Identifier: | http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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