Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée, 1600-1682), after - Richard Earlom (1743-1822) - Lot. 2 filigrana Porto di mare con l'imbarco di Sant'Orsola e Scena di porto con vascelli e

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Type: Combined aquatint with mezzotint, printed in sepia ink;
Support: Wove paper with laid lines, watermark clearly visible when held to light;
Condition: Excellent inking, good conservation state with slight traces of foxing and browning; Visible binding marks;
Shipping: INSURED via BARTOLINI/DPD courier, report any damages at the time of pickup;
Provenance: From a private collection;

Drawing: Claude Lorrain (1600/1682)
Engraver: Richard Earlom (1743/1822)
Publisher: John Boydell (1719/1804)
Series/Collection: "Il Liber Veritatis" (1774/1777)

Richard Earlom (London, 1743 – London, 1822) was one of the most renowned and technically gifted British engravers of the eighteenth century. He is best remembered in the history of printmaking for perfecting and elevating the mezzotint technique (also known as black-ground printing), using it both to reproduce masterpieces of painting and to revolutionize art publishing of his time. From a young age Earlom showed a strong inclination for drawing. He was a pupil of the Florentine painter and engraver Giovanni Battista Cipriani, from whom he learned extraordinary precision in line. The turning point of his career came with his meeting with John Boydell, the most powerful and visionary art publisher in eighteenth-century London. Boydell saw Earlom’s talent and hired him to translate into prints the collections of great masters housed in the estates of British nobility, helping to spread visual culture internationally.

John Boydell (1719–1804) was the most influential art publisher, engraver, and dealer in eighteenth-century Britain. His figure was monumental: he radically transformed the British art market, elevating English engravers from mere craftsmen to respected masters across Europe and reversing the trade flow of prints, which until then had England dependent on French imports. In the 1770s, Boydell sensed the commercial potential of reproducing Claude Lorrain’s precious drawing collection, then owned by the Duke of Devonshire. He recruited Richard Earlom for this colossal undertaking. Boydell did not merely want to sell decorative prints; he aimed to create a reference work for scholars and collectors. The Liber Veritatis (1774–1777) printed by Boydell became one of the era’s most successful publishing projects, consolidating his publishing house’s reputation as a symbol of excellence and luxury.

Claude Lorrain (born Claude Gellée, Chamagne 1600 – Rome 1682) was one of the most remarkable painters and engravers in the history of Western art. Although of French origin (the surname derives from the Lorraine region), he spent almost all his adult life in Rome and, together with his compatriot Nicolas Poussin, became the leading figure of the classical ideal landscape.