A View of the Stairs of the Vatican undefined

A View of the Stairs of the Vatican

1766

Georges Francois Blondel

(French, 1730–1800)

mezzotint printed in black

Platemark: 55 x 41.1 cm (21 5/8 x 16 3/16 in.); Sheet: 64.3 x 53 cm (25 5/16 x 20 7/8 in.)

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 2022.132

State: Dodgson 4, i (only state); Stogdon 5, i (only state)

Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

Mezzotint was relatively new at the time this print was made and had yet to be utilized for such large plates of an architectural nature as seen here.

Description

After returning from several years spent in Italy, the French printmaker George-Francois Blondel settled in London in order to take advantage of the English taste for images of Italian sites. This is one of a series of eight prints he published in 1766 depicting imagined and real Italian interiors. Using the relatively new technique of mezzotint, which creates velvety, dark tonal areas, as well as low vantage points, Blondel created towering, awe-inspiring spaces. For special patrons, he printed the plates in sepia ink, rather than in black; the CMA’s set includes two of these unusual sepia impressions.