3. Antonio da Trento (1508-1550) after
Parmigianino (1503-1540)

The Philosopher

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da Trento, The Philosopher

The Philosopher

Chiaroscuro woodcut, ca.1527, 104 x 71 mm., Bartsch XII-142-1. Provenance: Lisa & Leonard Baskin (but without mark). A strong and very bright impression, but unevenly printed, in black and orange-brown on laid paper, trimmed on or just outside the borderline, which is essentially unbroken; a printer's crease at the center right; the sheet appears to be backed with thin paper containing some text in Greek. Rare. The attribution to Antonio da Trento is always given with a question mark, although it is known that he worked under Parmigianino’s supervision and in his studio from about 1527 to 1530 (some have even suggested that Parmigianino himself made the drawings on the blocks and Antonio merely cut them). He is also known to have left the studio in 1530, absconding with a quantity of drawings by his master. These may have served him well in his later career, as he is thought to have reappeared in Fontainebleau, under the name of Antonio Fantuzzi, producing etchings after Parmigianino’s designs.