Friday, September 28, 2012

Vertical Grotesques

10 prints (& title page) from a suite of early 17th century - ornament model - grotesque etchings called: 'Disegni Varii di Polifilo Zancarli'



etching of grotesques - panther biting a dragon, armed satyrs, putti and abstracted foliage



grotesque foliated 17th century print



grotesque foliage in early modern print



etching of foliage grotesques



ornamental print with acanthus plants



snakes, putti, monsters and plant vines in engraved grotesque etching



satyrs and absurd foliage ornament in grotesque 1620s etching



ornamental grotesque print featuring lion, foliage and beasts



centaur and satyr in abstract ornamental 17th c. etching



titlepage etching 1620s with acanthus rinceau and chimeric monster ornament border


The imaginative prints above come from two sources and are in two forms*. The majority are from the British Museum, the rest from the Harvard Art Musuem. About half of the images above are original etchings by Odoardo Fialetti (after designs by the Venetian ornamental designer, Polifilo Giancarli [or Zancarli]). The other half are reversed - and modified - copies of Fialetti's etchings, produced in the late 1620s.
*mouseover the images to see which are by or after Fialetti
"Among the earliest manifestations of Baroque style in Venetian prints, this suite of fantastical arabesque designs for ornament was meant for the use of artists and decorators. Strikingly witty and animated, and still utilizing elaborate Mannerist elements, the plates incorporate putti, satyrs, tritons and others among the swirling foliate forms.
Among the compositions, one finds a satyr carrying a vase of fantastical snakes as putti attack a dragon; a satyr with a jawbone striking a lion attacking a man; two satyrs and a putto attacking a dragon clutched by a panther; a triton embracing a nereid seated on a sea monster; and a satyr playing a hurdy-gurdy, together with putti holding panpipes and a waterfowl encircled by a dragon." [.pdf source]
The ornamental designer, Polifilo (Giancarli) Zancarli was active in Venice between 1600 and 1625 and although a couple of hundred of his prints survive, little seems to be known of his life. Polifilo Giancarli's name does appear, at least, in the records for some theatrical productions in his home town. His uncle, Tasio, is mentioned in the title page of the present suite and he likely funded and published the project.

On the other hand, Odoardo Fialetti (d. 1638) [W] was a well known and prolific printmaker in Venice. His range of output was quite diverse: from anatomical illustrations to classical mythology scenes to mixed, complex ornamental engravings in similar styles to those seen above. He produced some of the earliest forms of Baroque ornamental prints and helped spread the ornate style from Italy to England.

(nb. Vertical Grotesques is the title of the album according to the Harvard Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art [the last which has brief descriptive entries for this set of prints but few, if any, images, as best as I recall])

AND just because it hit the radar while searching: the rather fabulous Prints & Drawings Collection (Italian and French, pre-1620) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. - with very interesting high-res zooming architecture of >4500 prints (!)

ADDIT: Forgot to mention: this post come circuitously via random image seaches, inspired by KJBishop and Jahsonic, both of which are target-rich environments for anyone inclined towards the visually evocative. And if you're reading this and you're not in that category, then you've already taken the wrong train my friend.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

BRAINS

Neuroanatomical atlas illustration plates from the 1786
'Traité d'Anatomie et de Physiologie' by Félix Vicq D'Azyr


2 x anatomical cross-sections of a brain



scientific illustration: head with scalp incised, cranial bone removed and brain exposed



neurosurgical teaching diagram from 18th century : inferior view of brain with arteries highlighted in red



Traité d'Anatomie et de Physiologie (Vol. 2 neuroanatomy) by Félix Vicq D'Azyr 1786 e



cross-section book illustration of brain tissue



Traité d'Anatomie et de Physiologie (Vol. 2 neuroanatomy) by Félix Vicq D'Azyr 1786 k



neuroanatomical cross section - hand-coloured engraving



engraved, hand-coloured book illustration of brain section



science book drawing of brain sectional view



neurology : brain section illustration



brain sectional illustration - caudate nuclei insitu view



neuro cross-sectional book illustration



inferior illustrated view of brain lobes showing transected brain stem




degloved cranial skin, removed skull and exposed intact brain scientific drawing 1780s French teaching thesis



scientific sketch from 18th century showing view of brain and blood supply


[All the images above have been extensively background cleaned 
and the colour saturation has been boosted to a modest degree]

"Félix Vicq d’Azyr (1748-1794) was Queen Marie-Antoinette’s physician and a member of the French Academy of Sciences and of the Academy of Medicine. He wrote the section on pathological anatomy in 'L’Encyclopédie' by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert, and in 1786 published 'Traité d’Anatomie et de Physiologie', which was lauded as one of the most realistic works of neuroanatomy. [It was described as "the most accurate neuroanatomical work produced before the advent of microscopic staining techniques": Garrison-Morton^ / "The work was issued in eight fascicles. The publication of the planned multi-volume work was interrupted by the French Revolution and the author’s premature death"*]

To illustrate his treatise, Vicq d’Azyr called upon the engraver Alexandre Briceau and his daughter Angélique, who used aquatint, an intaglio printmaking technique. A layer or successive layers of acid-resistant resin are baked onto a copper plate, which is then immersed in nitric acid to create different tones in the unprotected areas between resin particles, depending on acid concentration and exposure time. The plate is inked and prints are made. This complex technique achieves the delicacy of wash-paints, crayons, watercolors, and pastels. The etcher makes three plates, using aquatint (ochre), point engraving (red), and cutting wheel (black)." [source]
[Vicq d’Azyr]  found that his dissections of the brain were facilitated by first hardening the brain in alcohol. He identified accurately for the first time many of the cerebral convolutions, along with various internal structures of the brain. He rediscovered the white line in calarine cortex and described the mammillothalmic tract which still bears his name, as well as the central sulcus with the pre- and postcentral convolutions and insula twenty years before Reil and Rolando." [source]