This style was imitated by Henry Golzius, who intro duced it into the Low Countries, and laid the foundation of that great excellence which we admire so much in the works of Bolswert, Pontius, and Vosterman. This period, when the transcendent beauties of the Roman and Florentine schools of painting were thus so success fully diffused by the talents of Marc Antonio, and his immediate successors, marks the true era of the perfec tion of Italian engraving ; for soon after this time, the capabilities of the art began to develope themselves, for displaying the charms of chiar' oscuro, the delicate tex ture of human flesh, and, to a certain extent, the beau ties of local colour. Its professors gradually relaxed their efforts in the rugged and difficult paths of design, to follow the more flowery and attractive pursuits, which depend on freedom and dexterity of execution ; but the Ihigher excellencies of the art have never been entirely lost sight of by the Italian school, and they have shone forth with great splendour in our own times, united with all the beauties which the experience of so many cen turies has so fully perfected, as the works of Cunego . _ nii It st.ty, all 1 still more, those of RaffleIle, lorghen, and some of his pupbs The art of engraving and etching was lilcewi.ie cul tivated with much success by must or toe Italian paint ers. Titian etched many landscapes in a slight and spi racd style; and there are also attributed to Min several large engravings on wood. Parineggiano etched several plate.., which are valuable for the spirit and grace that he has displayed in them ; however, from their very de let tive execution, he scents to have been totally ignorant of the processes employed, and he has accordingly been considered as the inventor of etching, though we know that it was practised lung before by Albert Durer ; yet it 1%t uld appear, that he was either ignorant of its prior discovery, or that he only learned it imperfectly by re port. There arc many chiar' oscuro engravings said to be iv him, but it is more likely that they were executed bt Ugo da Carpi, or Andrea Andreani, under his direc tion. As an engraver, Agostino Caracci must be. ranked amongst the most celebrated artists of Italy. The cor rectness of his design is only equalled by the beauty of his execution ; and his plates would have nearly reached perfection, if he had paid more attention to the represen tation of local colour, and the effect of chiar' oscuro, (a neglect of which, however, was the prevalent defect of that age): The lights are, therefore, too much scattered, 211(1 left untinted, both on the front and principal objects, as well as in the distances, which not only destroys the harmony of the effect, but gives a slight unfinished ap pearance to the neatest engraving. His heads arc re markably fine, and the extremities are marked in the most accurate and masterly manner. lie studied engra ving under C. Cort, to whose works the style of Agos tino bears a great resemblance, and, like him, he worked entirely with the graver. We have likewise several plates by the rest of the Caracci, which possess all the beauty and correctness of design, as well as freedom of execution, which characterise their school. They are mostly etched first, and touched up with the graver af terwards; but, as they did not dedicate so much atten tion to engraving as Agostino, they are not so highly finished.
The etchings of Stefano Della Bella, a pupil of Can tagallina, born at Florence 1610, are marked with the character of excellent taste. No artist has ever surpass ed him in the delicacy and spirit with which he has han dled the point ; and his plates have a clear and brilliant effect. They are often slight, which is nut surprizing, when we consider that their number amounted to more than fourteen hundred. His works are generally of a small size, and consist of every variety of subject,—por traits, history, landscapes, and animals. Callot, who was also a disciple of Cantagallina, though born at Nancy in Lorraine, must be considered an artist of the Italian school. The fertility of invention, and the vast variety
which are found in the works of this excellent artist, is truly astonishing. The talent he possessed of combining an amazing number of figures, and of varying their atti tudes, without forced contrast, so that all, whether single figures or groupes, may be distinguished from each other even in the shadows, was truly admirable, particu larly when we consider the extreme minuteness of many of them. Ile generally (especially in his large prints) raised the point of sight to a considerable height, in or der to afford more ample room for his figures, and greater Jcope to his invention. In that charming print called ?he Panishmcnts, the number of figures he has intro (Weed is astonishing, all of them disposed in diffyrent groupes with the greatest judgment ; and the actin s of even the smallest of them, in the distance, are conspicu ous, though the largest figure on the foreground scarce ly exceeds three-fourths of an inch. The same may be said of his Fair, and many others. The subjects which Callut and Della Bella chose for their works, are nearly ; but the excellence of the former consists in the clearness and perspicuity of his designs, the arrange ment of his groupes, and the firmness of his outline ; while that of the latter consists in the freedom of his point, and the lightness and elegance of his figures.
The etchings of Spagnoletto (born 1589) arc bold and free ; his lights are broad and clear, and have a power ful and pleasing effect. He drew correctly, and the ex tremities of his figures are marked in a masterly manner. The characters of his heads are admirably expressed, particularly of his old men, which he was fond of intro ducing into his compositions. Guercino, (born 1590,) as an engraver, has left only two memorials behind him of his talents, a St John and a St Antony of Padua. They are executed with much spirit and freedom, in a style resembling his admirable drawings with a pen, which have been imitated so poorly by Pasqualianus, and in our own time by Bartolozzi in a very superior style, from drawings in the collection of his present Majesty. Salvator Rosa has left many etchings, both history and landscape. In these we must not look for the grace and interesting delicacy of Co•regio or Guido, nor the scien tific design of the schools of Rome and Florence. His figures in general represent banditti; and his landscape, the wild and savage grandeur of Alpine scenery. His style is slight but masterly ; his heads are admirable, but the legs and other parts of the naked are incorrectly drawn. His draperies are stiff, and ill cast, and the whole destitute of elegance : however, the masses of light are finely preserved ; and his landscape is sublime.
In the department of landscape, Claude Lorraine first claims our notice. He has left about 28 landscapes, though in general in rather a slovenly style of execu tion. They display great intelligence of the chiar' os curo, and have, to the eye of the judicious critic, an admirable effect! One of the most characteristic excel lencies of his pictures, is the beauty, grace, and fine diversity of character in his trees ; and these qualities he has transfused into his etchings with unparalleled success. One of these landscapes, in particular, may be mentioned, on the right side of which, in the middle ground, is a groupe of trees, and seen through the open ing the ruins of an ancient temple, in which the richness and diversity of character, and the truth of nature, we hesitate not to say, have never been equalled. His sub jects are the same as he represented on his canvass, landscapes with ancient ruins, rivers, and sea views, embellished with shipping, figul es, and cattle. The etchings of his pupil Swaneveldt, which are very nume rous, are executed with much spirit and effect. They are in general well composed ; but though they possess much of the truth of nature, and great neatness of finish, they bear no comparison with those of Claude.