Giulio di Antonio Bonasone(c. 1510-after 1576) Bonasone, who lived and worked in Bologna, learned the art of engravingEngravingEngraving involves the scratching of a text or design into an object. Various techniques exist since every material requires different treatment. Copperplate engraving requires a steel-tipped graver - a burin. This is used to scratch lines into the surface. A print of the design can be made when the plate is coated in ink. Glass can also be engraved. To make lines on glass, however, a diamond-point graver is employed. Tones of shade can be introduced with hatching. from Lorenzo Sabbatini. The Roman engraver, Marcantonio Raimondi, seems also to have been a major influence. Some 400 prints by Bonasone are known. Some of these are reproductive prints after existing works of art, some are original designs. Bonasone made engravings after drawings by the painter Parmigianino. During a stay in Rome he produced prints after paintings by Michaelangelo and Raphael. Bonasone often combined the two techniques of etchingEtchingAn etching is in fact a print of a design etched into a metal plate. This is obtained as follows. A smooth metal plate (usually copper) is coated with etching-ground, an acid-resistant mixture of wax, resin and asphalt. The design is scratched into this coating with a needle, exposing the metal beneath. The plate is then immersed in an acid bath, in which the mordant bites into the exposed metal, etching in the lines of the design. The finished plate is then coated with ink, which fills the lines. By pressing the plate onto a surface, the design is transferred. A single plate can be used for between 50 and 200 prints. The earliest etching in existence dates from 1513. and engravingEngravingEngraving is the earliest form of print making. A copperplate engraving is made by scratching the design onto the copper with a burin - a steel needle with a wooden handle. The engraver works away from the body, producing regular lines ending in a characteristic point. Ink applied to the copperplate enters the incised lines and is transferred to the paper with a press - the deeper the cut, the darker the line. Hatching and cross-hatching are used to create halftones and shadows. A single engraving can be use for some 300 high-quality and 300 reasonable prints. After that, the copper plate becomes too worn. in a single print. |
