Here we have a rare engraving from the later 1500s by Enea Vico (1523-1567), after a painting by Parmigianino (1503-1540). The scene is from Homer's Odyssey, with Venus at rest and Vulcan at his workbench. The print was among a stack of early engravings from Europe. There are notations in ink along the bottom of the bottom of the print. It appears to be in Italian. There are also faint pencil inscriptions just below the print.
This early rare print has an interesting history. It's actually a censored version of an earlier print that had Venus "getting to know" another chap right in the same room. For more information about the print, check out the blog post We Hack Museums by Museum Hack: http://blog.museumhack.com/page/6
Here's a short bio of the artist from Wikipedia:
"Enea Vico (29 January 1523 – 18 August 1567) was an Italian engraver. Vico was born in Parma. He specialized in grotesque engravings based on antique paintings."
The print measures 16.5" x 13". There is a significant vertical crease in the middle. The piece could use a cleaning. There is staining along the crease and in the lower left and right portions of the print, and near Venus. The top edges has some crinkling. Please see all pics as they are part of the description.
I ship to the continental USA only. Free shipping on the print.
This rare old master print is over 400 years old. They don't come around often.
