Francesco Primaticcio (1504 – 1577)/ Theodor van Thulden (1606 1669) - Three etchings from Les Travaux d'Ulysse

“Les Travaux d'Ulysse”
Plates 6, 22 and 23.
A masterpiece of mannerist art.
First impression with printed text from 1633. This etching was made for “Les Travaux d'Ulysse, desseignez par le Sieur de Sainct Martin, de la facon qu ils se voyent dans la maison royalle de Fontainebleau. Peints par le Sieur Nicolas et gravez en cuivre par Theodore van Tulden.“ Paris, Melchior Tavernier, 1633.
Frequently found on the art market are later impressions of minor quality, without text, from rather worn plates. The 1633 impressions with text are, by far, the best ones.
20 x 25.8, 19.5 x 25.5, 19 x 13.5 cm; paper size: ca. 25.4 x 31.4 cm. Perfect impression with nice plate tone on laid paper; a small, backed tear at lower margin of plate 6, a small loss of paper at lower margin of platte 22 and a backed tear in plate 23 a small loss of paper in the wide margin. All damage almost unvisibly repaired. ; otherwise, in almost mint condition.
Literature: Hollstein Dutch 90. For comparison, see the Rijksmuseum copy (BI-1883-1235-55).