Natalia Uvarova
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
The development of engravings from the Renaissance to the Mannerism and the early Baroque era is a pressing question, which remains significantly underresearched by art historians. In the report this subject is studied in multiple aspects: technique, art achievements and the use of engraving as a way to reproduce and duplicate other art objects.
By examining the works of Dürer and Goltzius, we can clearly see the changes that happened during two centuries and also features that Mannerism retained without changing since Renaissance. In the report a number of works by both masters are analyzed, characteristic features are identified, their technique and visual imagery are analyzed. Albrecht Dürer was a prominent artist of his time, practically the father of Renaissance engravings, who introduced new methods of composition and expression of space and depth. Hendrick Goltzius is the master of Mannerism, a prominent draftsman and engraver. He used both the methods developed by his predecessors, as well as his contemporaries, and both were adapted to fit his vision. Both masters attached importance to the technique and experimented with different ones, but their most important works are copper engravings, i.e. chalcography, often considered the most difficult technique of all.
Despite being seemingly narrow, the topic is not only important for the history of graphics and paintings, but for the history of art, because engraving in the 16th to 17th century Europe is the most significant tool to duplicate and spread visual information, which therefore had influence on all other forms of art.