28. Leon Davent (fl. 1540-to 1565)
after Francesco Primaticcio

Alexander Mastering Bucephalus

(click on image to print)
Davent: Alexander Mastering Bucephalus

Alexander Mastering Bucephalus

Etching, ca. 1546, Bartsch XVI-314-12 i/ii, Zerner L.D. 50 i/ii, Herbet 75 i/ii. Provenance: Hyatt Mayor (not in Lugt). Very fine impression of this superb and rare etching, showing the vertical polishing scratches and printing drily only in a small area at the bottom, on laid paper with the watermark of a bunch of grapes, trimmed along or just inside the oval platemark but with ample blank plate margin outside the etched borderline. The plate is signed with the etched monogram and with the designation Bol, for Bologna, the alternative designation for Primaticcio on whose design the print is based. The composition exists in painted form by Primaticcio in the chamber of Mme. d'Etampes at Fontainebleau, but Zerner states that Fontainebleau etchings, in general, were made after drawings, probably preliminary drawings, rather than from the paintings.