8. Lucas van Leyden
(1494-1533)
The Fall of Man

(click on image to print)
van Leyden, The Fall of Man

The Fall of Man

Engraving, 1533, Bartsch 10 i/ii, Hollstein 10 i/iv, 190 x 247mm. Fine impression of the extremely rare first state, before the monogram signature and rework, on laid paper with the watermark of a Gothic P with 4-petaled flower, probably Briquet 8636 (Leyden, 1509-1518), trimmed just to the image but complete; restoration along the bottom edge and the lower right corner and center fold flattened and neatly supported in places. Hollstein mentions only two impressions of the first state sold over many years. The most often reproduced impression (MFA, Boston) has the initial drawn in in pen and ink and facing correctly. The engraved initial in the states after the first is actually in reverse. The print is a work of Lucas’s full maturity, the occasional awkwardness of his early works completely overcome, the figures exquisitely drawn, the action flowing across a beautifully conceived background, the Italian influence now thoroughly integrated into his personal style. Truly a master print.