Giovanni Battista Fontana

During the early years he spent in Verona the painter, draughtsman and engraver, Giovanni Battista Fontana, was greatly influenced by Titian, Veronese and Giulio Romano. He went to Vienna in 1562 and was subsequently active in Innsbruck, where he was appointed court painter to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in 1575. Bartsch and Passavant attribute a little over seventy prints to Fontana, most of which are etchings reworked with a burin.

The present depiction of the Madonna with the Blessing Christ Child is notable for its sound, vigorous etching style and the harmonious, cohesive nature of the composition. The tight hatching, which is deeply etched in places, produces flowing contours of the utmost delicacy. What enchants the viewer more than anything else, however, is the dignified intimacy of the scene and the simplicity of its conception. A sturdy tree trunk sketched with energetic lines and a simple wooden fence separate mother and child from the transparently treated landscape backdrop, thus harking back to the traditional theme of the hortus conclusus.

The print is of the utmost rarity. The authors of the Illustrated Bartsch were unable to confirm an impression in any public collection, as a consequence of which the etching is listed as “not illustrated” with its “location undetermined”. However, one impression is kept in the collection Waldburg-Wolfegg (we thank Dr. Joyce Zelen, Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam, for the kind information). A superb, inky impression with a metallic gleam, with a slightly shimmering plate tone that creates a delicate sfumato. With fine, even margins. Minimal traces of handling, otherwise in impeccable condition. With the collector’s stamp of the Cabinet Brentano-Birkenstock (Lugt 345), “Il réunit, à partir de 1765, une collection de premier ordre d’estampes, de dessins, de livres et de tableaux” (Lugt vol. I, p. 60).

38.000 €