1655 Fine Antique Dutch Old Master Print Female Nudes

The print is a copperplate engraving printed on laid paper circa 1655.

The sheet measures 16 1/2 X 10 1/2 inches and is in good condition aside from foxing spots, age toning and small tears on the edges.

The image is inscribed  with monogram "AQ" at the base of each statue.  These are the initials of the artist Artus Quellinus.

The print comes from  "Prima Pars Praecipuarum Effigierum ac Ornamentorum, Amplissimae Curiae Amstelodamensis" published in Amsterdam, by Artus Quellinus, in 1655.  [A second edition was printed by Frederick de Witt in 1665.  The print could come from either edition.]

The work was a series of engravings after Artus Quellinus famous sculptures for the decoration of the City Hall in Amsterdam.  The plates were engraved by his brother Hubertus Quellinus and printed in Artus Quellinus's house.

This is an antique print guaranteed to be over 300 years old.

Buyer to pay $2.50 postage and handling in US; $3.50 to Canada; and $5.50 international - for any amount of prints.

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Laid paper is distinguished from wove paper by the presence of thin, parallel lines visible when the paper is held to light. The lines are usually a few millimeters apart. Laid paper is a type of paper having a ribbed texture imparted by the manufacturing process. It use was diminished by the 1790's by the introduction of wove paper (which eliminated the ribbed lines for a smoother printing surface.)

A copperplate engraving is an intaglio process, i.e. it is the grooves, rather than the raised portions that are inked. The steps are: 1.) A drawing is cut into a copper plate using a burin, a metal tool with a sharp point, to remove the metal and create the lines of the drawing. 2.) Ink is applied to the plate with a dabber or roller, and forced into the grooves. 3.) The surface is cleaned with soft muslin. 4.) A sheet of paper is laid over the plate. 5.) The plate and paper are passed through a rolling press that applies pressure and forces the paper into the grooves to pick up the ink. Prints made with copperplate engraving process usually have a plate-mark left around the image, showing where the plate was pressed into the paper. Steel engraving replaced copperplate engraving in the eraly 1820's.