Allegory of Death

Andrea Andreani (Italian, 1558/59–1629)
After: Giovanni Fortuna (Italian, 1535–1611)

1588

Medium/Technique Chiaroscuro woodcut printed from five blocks in beige, grey, brown, and black, with volvelle printed from four blocks

Dimensions Sheet: 50.4 x 34 cm (19 13/16 x 13 3/8 in.)

Credit Line Bequest of W. G. Russell Allen

Accession Number1986.111

NOT ON VIEW

CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings

ClassificationsPrints

Bartsch and Meyer describe two states of this print, the second containing a roundel in the upper right corner with the figure of death and the letters "Mus", which can be cut out and put into the center of the wheel in the lower half of the print, where it can be rotated to complete several inscriptions in the wheel. Bartsch's and Meyer's first state is before this roundel. It appears from the impressions in the MFA, however (this one and 1975.469), that the roundel was included in the first state, and that it was removed, replaced with a plug, and printed on a separate sheet of paper in the second state. Evidence of the plug appears in both the MFA impressions.

Catalogue Raisonné Bartsch XII.135.13, i/ii; Meyer 27, i/ii (see Note)

Marks Verso, lower left, stamped in brown ink, the mark of the MFA W.G. Russell Allen Bequest (Lugt 3593)

ProvenanceFontaine, 1884 (note on mat; no mark). W. G. Russell Allen (b. 1882 - d. 1955), Boston; 1986, bequest of W. G. Russell Allen to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 26, 1986)