Friday, March 16, 2018

Seven Virtues and Seven Planets by Monogrammist IB

Monogrammist IB
The Virtues - Faith
ca. 1523-30
engraving
British Museum

"A series of seven engravings with female personifications of the Virtues, sitting with their respective attributes in interiors with views of landscapes through windows."

Monogrammist IB
The Virtues - Hope
ca. 1523-30
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
The Virtues - Charity
ca. 1523-30
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
The Virtues - Temperance
ca. 1523-30
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
The Virtues - Fortitude
ca. 1523-30
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
The Virtues - Justice
ca. 1523-30
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
The Virtues - Patience
ca. 1523-30
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB was active in Nuremberg for a few years in the 1520s and left behind a few dozen extremely accomplished engravings. No further facts about this significant German Renaissance artist have so far come to light, and it is likely enough that no biographical information has survived.

Monogrammist IB
The Seven Planets - Sun
1528
engraving
British Museum

"A series of seven engravings of the planetary gods as whole-length figures standing in landscapes with symbols of their respective signs of the Zodiac."

Monogrammist IB
The Seven Planets - Moon
1528
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
The Seven Planets - Mercury
1528
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
The Seven Planets - Jupiter
1528
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
The Seven Planets - Mars
1528
engraving
British Museum

Monogrammist IB
The Seven Planets - Venus
1528
engraving
British Museum


Monogrammist IB
The Seven Planets - Saturn
1528
engraving
British Museum

Lois François
Table Clock - France
(case engraved with five of Monogrammist IB's planets)
ca. 1530-50
British Museum

Lois François
Table Clock - France
(case engraved with five of Monogrammist IB's planets)
ca. 1530-50
British Museum

"Around the hexagonal case, five panels are engraved with depictions of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, ruling planets for days of the week, with the sun engraved on the dial panel.  Hugh Tait in Clocks and Watches has associated these engravings with designs by a master engraver with the initials IB and dated 1528.  Copies survive today in the Department of Prints & Drawings in the British Museum and a close comparison shows just how carefully the engraver of the clock panels copied from the originals.  Such designs were relied upon by engravers whose imagination might have been less fertile than that of the great designers." 

– curator's notes from the British Museum