Antique 1799 The Surprise Erotic Nude Engraving Albani Rowlandson 15"

Description

1799 hand colored erotic engraving titled "The Surprise" by Thomas Rowlandson after Francesco Albano. Shows a neoclassically inspired scene of two young, nude couples seated together on a bank under a tree, while a third couple frolicks in the lake. Foliate carved giltwood frame; sage green linen mat.

Etcher: Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
Artist: After Francesco Albani (Italian, Bologna 1578–1660 Bologna).

"Thomas Rowlandson (13 July 1757 – 21 April 1827)[1] was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual social and political satires, as well as a large number of illustrations for novels, humorous books, and topographical works. Like other caricaturists of his age such as James Gillray, his caricatures are often robust or bawdy. Rowlandson also produced highly explicit erotica for a private clientele; this was never published publicly at the time and is now only found in a small number of collections. His caricatures included those of people in power such as the Duchess of Devonshire, William Pitt the Younger and Napoleon Bonaparte." (Source: Wikipedia)

"Francesco Albani or Albano (17 March or 17 August 1578 - 4 October 1660) was an Italian Baroque painter. Born 1578 in Bologna, he had a father who was a silk merchant and who intended to instruct his son in the same trade; but by age twelve, Albani became an apprentice under the competent mannerist painter Denis Calvaert, where he met Guido Reni. Soon he followed Reni to the so-called "Academy" run by the Carracci family. In the year 1600, Albani moved to Rome to work in the fresco decoration of the gallery of the Palazzo Farnese, being completed by the studio of Annibale Carracci. Albani became one of Annibale's most prominent apprentices. Albani's best fresco masterpieces are those on mythological subjects. Among the best of his sacred subjects are a St Sebastian and an Assumption of the Virgin, both in the church of San Sebastiano fuori le Mura in Rome. He was among the Italian painters to devote himself to painting cabinet pictures. His mythological subjects include The Sleeping Venus, Diana in the Bath, Danaë Reclining, Galatea on the Sea, and Europa on the Bull." (Source: askART)

Condition

Fair - Discoloration/water stains to paper

Dimensions

15" x 0.5" x 12.75" / Sans Frame - 9.75" x 7.25" (Width x Depth x Height)