Samuel Singer History of Playing Cards

kwaw

kwaw said:
Of Martin Schoen John Gould’s Biographical Dictionary of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and Architects (1838)says:

"SCHOEN (Martin), an old German engraver, born about the year 1420. This venerable artist, who was at the same time a painter, an engraver, and a goldsmith, may be considered the father of the German school of engraving. Of his performances as a painter little is known. In the church of Le ; Hospital, at Colmar, are preserved two of his pictures, representing the Nativity, and the Adoration of the I Magi, both of which subjects he also engraved. If he was not the earliest of the German engravers, he began to practice the art when it was in its very infancy, and carried the mechanical part of it to an astonishing degree of perfection. Although his I drawing is incorrect, and his compositions partake of the stiffness and formality of the earliest works of the early German artists, his productions prove him to have possessed a fertile imagination, and exhibit both genius and judgment. In his print of the Death of the Virgin, there is a fine expression in the heads, and the accessories are finished with a beauty and delicacy of execution which has scarcely been surpassed."

The Gould entry above is extracted from Michael Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, which adds in greater detail:

It is now settled that the name of this artist was Martin Schongauer, but it is not equally certain whether he was a native of Culmbach, Colmar, or Augsbourg, or what were the precise years of his birth and death. It must, however, be apparent to every one who has perused the accounts that have been written concerning him since the publication of Bryan's Dictionary, that the dates given above are erroneous. It is surprising that Bryan should have overlooked the statement by Bartsch in vol. vi of " Le Peintre Graveur," published in 1803, ( eight years previous to his own work,) and rely on that of Huber. Zani and Bartsch place Martin Schongauer's birth in or about 1445; but Ottley, with still greater probability, places it in 1453. They all concur that he died in 1499. When it was a question of the priority of the discovery of engraving, it suited the theories of the disputants to carry back to as remote a period as any plausible circumstance would seem to justify, the date at which their respective countrymen flourished, on whom they were disposed to confer the honour ; in most instances, however, conjecture has been substituted for fact. When inquirers like Zani, Bartsch, and Ottley investigate the several claims, whatever may be their predilections, they are not easily misled by possibilities, or even probabilities, but apply such tests as must decide the question one way or other, or show that discovery is almost hopeless. In justice to Huber it must be mentioned, that he was the first writer who excited a doubt of the correctness of the dates respecting Schongauer. In the first volume of his " Manuel des Curieux et des Amateurs de l'Art," he states " that one of his friends, M. de Lerse, a great connoisseur in whatever related to the fine arts, had informed him that during some stay which he made at Colmar, he had had occasion to search the ancient manuscripts preserved there, which treat of Schoen and his family ; and that it appeared from these documents that he had lived longer than was commonly believed." The portrait of Martin Schongauer, engraved by Bartsch and prefixed to the sixth volume of " Le Peintre Graveur," was taken from a painting formerly at Nuremberg, afterwards in the collection of Count Fries, and now at Schleisshcim, or Munich, on which is inscribed Hinsch Martin Schongatter ifaler 1483 ; and in the picture is an escutcheon of arms, bearing a crescent gules on a field argent. On the back of the picture is written in old German to the following purport : " Master Martin Schongauer, painter, called Hipsch (handsome) Martin, on account of his art, born at Colmar, but of a citizen family of Augsbourg. Noble by origin, &c. Died at Colmar the year 1499, the 2nd of February. May God shew him mercy. And I, Hans Largk- mair, was his disciple in the year 1488." The print, to those accustomed to examine portraits bv the old German masters, would not indicate a person beyond the age of thirty. Albert Durer had a vehement desire to be personally acquainted with Martin Schongauer, and for that purpose made a journey to Colmar in 1492 ; he, however, was not gratified, Martin, it seems, being from home at the time, but he was kindly received by his brothers, Caspar, Paul, and Louis. If Martin had died in 1486, Albert would not have gone to Colmar to visit him in 1492. On a drawing in the possession of Baroa Heineken was written, in German, " This piece was designed by Hübsch (handsome) Martin in 147О, being then a youth. I, Albert Durer, have learnt that, and have written this to his honour, in the year 1517." Bartsch observes, " that all the prints of Martin Schongauer exhibit an almost equal perfection in the management of the burin, which induces the belief that he had not commenced engraving on copper, or rather that he had not taken (preserved) proofs till after he had acquired» bv great practice in ornamenting plate, a thorough command of the instrument; for it is said that be united the art of the goldsmith with that of the painter." On this Ottley remarks, " If the truth of this observation be acknowledged, it will follow, as highly probable at least, that none of the engravings of Schongauer now known appertain to a period more remote than about the year 1475; at dl events, there seems every reason to believe that by far the greater portion of them were executed in the last twenty years of the century in which he lived." They who are curious in the matter will find it ably discussed in Bartsch, Peintre Graveur, torn, vi., and in Ottley's Inquiry on the Origin and early History of Engraving; and in both an ample catalogue of the prints engraved by and attributed to the artist. It is related that there was a friendly correspondence, and an exchange of their drawings, between Pietro Perugino and Schongauer ; and that Michael Angelo, in his vouth, studied and copied in colours the print of at. Anthony tormented by Demons, or coloured an impression of it, being particularly struck with the extravagance and variety of the composition. With regard to his pictures, there is much more uncertainty. There are works attributed to him in the galleries of Nuremberg, Munich, Schleissheim, and Vienna; but connoisseurs are divided as to the authenticity of several. Those at Colmar have the greater number of suffrages. One in particular, the Virgin in the Rose-bush, placed behind the altar in the cathedral is celebrated for its size, composition, and excellent state of preservation ; if character be added, these are the chief tests by which others attributed to him may be judged. This picture is painted on a gold ground, as, it is asserted, are almost all the authentic works of the master, and the figures are of the size of life. The Virgin is represented with the infant Jesus on her lap, seated among roses, and two angels holding a crown above her. It is carefully executed, and the colours are so blended that the touch of the pencil is imperceptible. The Crucifixion, at Vienna, is also one of his approved pictures ; it is full of expression, if not of beauty, and is thought to participate in the style of the school of Cologne."

The dictionary is available as a pdf file from google:
http://www.google.co.uk/books?id=Nf...ictionary+Painters+Engravers+Schoen#PPA715,M1

Kwaw