Name: MICHELE LUCCHESE (ACTIVE 1534-1564) AFTER MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
Brand: The Crucifixion of Saint Peter
Price: 8500.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

MICHELE LUCCHESE (ACTIVE 1534-1564) AFTER MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)
The Crucifixion of Saint Peter
etching with engraving, circa 1550-60, on laid paper, watermark Anvil and Hammer in a Circle (similar to Woodward 230, Rome, 1574), a fine impression of this rare etching, printing with a light plate-tone
Plate 417 x 323 mm.
Sheet 420 x 326 mm.

Unidentified, inscribed in brown ink verso with the initial ':h:' and 'Van Uytenbogerts', probably 17th century Dutch.
John Barnard (d. 1784), London (Lugt 1420); presumably his posthumous sale, Thomas Philipe, London, 16 April 1798 (and following days).
William Roscoe (1753-1831), Liverpool; his sale, Winstanley, Liverpool, 9-20 September 1816, lot 62 ('fine impression, extremely rare'; £0-13-0).
Charles Robert Blundell (1761-1837), Ince Blundell, Lancashire.
Thomas Weld (1808-1887); Lulworth Castle, Dorset; by bequest fom the above.
Colonel Sir Joseph Weld (1909-1992), Lulworth Castle, Dorset; by descent from the above; Christie's, London, 1 December 1976, lot 33 (£120; to Colnaghi).
With P. & D. Colnaghi, London; acquired from the above sale.
Acquired from the above on 5 January 1977.

Passavant 6; Barnes 66

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Lot Essay

Michele Lucchese (also known as Michele Greco) was an engraver and publisher active in Rome in the mid-16th century.
This rare impression of the Martyrdom of Saint Peter, published the Roman print publisher of French origin, Antoine Lafrery, reproduces in true orientation one of the two frescoes by Michelangelo Buonarroti in the Cappella Paolina in Rome.
In the cartouche at lower left, the author praises the artist is Latin, using the same terms as on another print, The Last Judgement, by Lucchese after Michelangelo: 'Michelangelo the Florentine, perfect in art; copied by the diligence of Michele Lucchese'. The print is dedicated to Cardinal Guido Ascanio Sforza, Pope Paul III's grandson.
A larger, engraved version of the subject, in reversed orientation and in a landscape format, was made by Giovanni Battista de' Cavalieri, a rare impression of which was sold at Christie's, London, on 10 December 2019, lot 20.
(See B. Barnes, Michelangelo in Print: Reproductions as Response in the Sixteenth Century, 2010, no. 66, p. 58, 114-5.)