Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée, 1600-1682), after - Richard Earlom (1743-1822) - Lot. 2 filigrana Giona sulla riva rigettato dal pesce (balena) e Noli me tangere, veduta di

Type: Combined etching with mezzotint, printed in sepia ink;
Support: laid and wove paper, watermark clearly visible in transmitted light;
State: excellent inking, good preservation with slight traces of blooming and browning; Visible signs of binding;
Shipping: INSURED via Bartolini/DPD courier, report any damage at collection;
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 celebrated and technically skilled British engravers of the eighteenth century. He entered art graphics history mainly for perfecting and bringing mezzotint technique to the highest levels (also known as the black manner), 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 stroke. The turning point of his career was meeting John Boydell, the most powerful and visionary art publisher of eighteenth-century London. Boydell sensed Earlom's talent and hired him to translate into prints the collections of the great masters in the British nobility’s residences, helping to spread visual culture internationally.

John Boydell (1719–1804) was the most influential art publisher, engraver, and dealer in eighteenth-century Great Britain. His figure was monumental: he radically transformed the British art market, elevating English engravers from mere artisans to esteemed masters across Europe and reversing the trade flow of prints, which until then saw England dependent on French imports. In the 1770s, Boydell sensed the commercial potential of reproducing Claude Lorrain's precious collection of drawings, then owned by the Duke of Devonshire. He recruited Richard Earlom for this colossal undertaking. Boydell did not want merely 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 editorial projects, consolidating the reputation of his publishing house as a byword for excellence and luxury.

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