Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée, 1600-1682), after - Richard Earlom (1743-1822) - Lot. 2 filigrana Riposo durante la fuga in Egitto e Paesaggio bucolico con castello

https://www.calcografica.it/stampe/inventario.php?id=S-FC23229
https://www.calcografica.it/stampe/inventario.php?id=S-FC23279

Original drawing by Claude Lorrain:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_2006-U-1104

Type: Etching and mezzotint in sepia tones;
Paper: Laid paper with chain lines, watermark clearly visible when held up to the light;
Condition: Excellent inking, good condition with slight traces of foxing and browning; visible binding marks;
Shipping: INSURED courier BARTOLINI\DPD; report any damage upon receipt;
Provenance: From a private collection;

Drawing: Claude Lorrain (1600 /1682)
Engraver: Richard Earlom (1743 /1822)
Publisher: John Boydell (1719 /1804)
Series\Collection: "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 is remembered in the history of printmaking above all for perfecting and bringing the mezzotint technique (also known as the black manner) to the highest level, using it both to reproduce masterpieces of painting and to revolutionize art publishing in his time. Earlom showed a strong aptitude for drawing from a young age. He studied under the Florentine painter and engraver Giovanni Battista Cipriani, from whom he learned extraordinary precision of line. The turning point in his career was his meeting with John Boydell, the most powerful and visionary art publisher in eighteenth-century London. Boydell recognized Earlom’s talent and commissioned him to reproduce in prints the collections of the great masters held in the homes of the British nobility, helping to spread visual culture internationally.

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

Claude Lorrain (born Claude Gellée, Chamagne 1600 – Rome 1682) was one of the most extraordinary painters and engravers in the history of Western art. Although he was French by birth (his nickname derives from his native Lorraine), he spent almost his entire adult life in Rome, becoming, alongside his compatriot Nicolas Poussin, the foremost exponent of the classical ideal landscape.