Allegory of the Immaculate Conception after Vasari

THOMASSIN, Philippe (1562 – 1622) # 130 Published in Rome, before 1602 Thomassin’s allegorical work, engraved after the 1541 painting by Giorgio Vasari (now held in the Uffizi, Florence), depicts Adam, Eve, Moses, kings, priests and soldiers all tethered to the bottom of a fig tree, around which the Serpent is coiled. Atop the tree is the Virgin surrounded by angels. The work displays a compositional complexity well articulated by the medium of engraving, with strong contrasts between the tone of the figures and the depth of the background. Philippe Thomassin was a French engraver, printer and publisher, the son of a master goldsmith in Troyes who moved to Rome in 1585, where he would work for the rest of his life. He was known as a publisher, printer, and artist in his own right, as well as a teacher, his most well known student being Jacques Callot. Thomassin specialised in producing engravings after religious paintings which he published in partnership with his brother-in-law Jean Turpin (c. 1561 – 1626). Upon dissolution of their partnership in 1602, Thomassin gave Turpin his copperplates, about 240 in total, and his name was removed from the plates. A strong and even impression on laid paper, in excellent condition with very minor repairs to a couple of short tears Provenance: The Berry Collection, Melbourne