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A woodcut by Albrecht Dürer plagiarized by Marcantonio Raimondi, Nuremberg (1504)

Source:
Scanned from the copies held in the British Museum

Citation:
A woodcut by Albrecht Dürer plagiarized by Marcantonio Raimondi (1504), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

Record Images


Record-ID:
i_1504

Full title
"Joachim and Anne Meeting at the Golden Gate", a woodcut from Albrecht Dürer's cycle "Life of the Virgin", plagiarized by Marcantonio Raimondi

Full title original language
"Anna und Joachim unter der Goldenen Pforte", woodcut from Albrecht Dürer's cycle "Marienleben"

Abstract
Dürer was the most copied Renaissance artist. When his prints appeared for the first time in Italy, they caused a sensation. According to Vasari's "Life of Marcantonio and Other Engravers of Prints" (1568) - a supplement to the second edition of his 1550 "Lives of the Artists" - the young Marcantonio Raimondi saw Dürer's woodcuts in the Piazza of San Marco. He was so "stunned by Dürer's style and technique" that he spent almost all the money he had brought with him from Bologna on these prints. Vasari continues: "Marcantonio having considered how much honour and profit could be gained through the practice of this art in Italy determined to do this with all care and diligence, and thus began to counterfeit those prints by Albert [sic], studying the method of cutting and everything about the prints he had bought. These copies were held in high reputation on account of their novelty and beauty, and everybody thought to have some. Having then counterfeited in copper engraving, the same size as the woodblocks which Albert had cut, the entire Passion and Life of Christ in 36 sheets, and put on them the sign that Albert used on his works, ie: AD, he succeeded to such an extent in making works in the same manner that, not knowing that they had been made by Marcantonio, people believed them to be the work of Albert, and they were bought and sold as his. News of this having been sent to Albert in Flanders [sic], and having sent him one of the counterfeits, Albert was so enraged that he set off from Flanders and went to Venice, and took recourse to law at the Signoria, taking legal action against Marcantonio. However, Albert only succeeded in preventing Marcantonio from using his name and monogram on his works." (Translation: D. Thornton)
Since Marcantonio Raimondi omitted the famous monogram from his later copies of Dürer prints after about 1510 (replacing it with an empty tablet), it is plausible that this law-suit did take place. See the full commentary on Dürer in d_1511b.

Bibliography
"Dürer's Passions", Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (2000), URL:www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/exhibitions/featured/passion/index.html
"Dürer through Other Eyes: his graphic work mirrored in copies and forgeries of three centuries", An exhibition prepared by students in the Williams College/Clark Art Institute Graduate Program in Art History, March 14 to June 15, 1975 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute, 1975)
Lambert, Susan, "The Image Multiplied: Five Centuries of Printed Reproductions of Painting and Drawings" (London: Abaris Books, 1987)
Pon, Lisa, "Raphael, Dürer, and Marcantonio Raimondi: Copying and the Italian Renaissance Print" (New Haven and London: Yale U.P., 2004)
Shoemaker, Innis, "The Engravings of Marcantonio Raimondi" (Lawrence, Kansas, 1981).
Thornton, Dora, "The Use of Dürer Prints as Sources for Italian Renaissance Maiolica", in G. Bartrum (ed.), Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy, (London: British Museum, 2004)

Related documents in this database

Author
Albrecht Dürer

Publisher
Albrecht Dürer

Location
Nuremberg

Year
1504

Language
Other

Source
Scanned from the copies held in the British Museum

Physical description
Leat

Illustrations tables
N/A

Persons referred to
N/A

Persons referred to in commentary
Dürer, Albrecht (1471-1528)
Raimondi, Marcantonio (c.1480-c.1534)
Vasari, Giorgio (1511-1574)

Places referred to
N/A

Places referred to in commentary
Bologna
Italy
Venice

Legislation referred to
N/A

Legislation referred to in commentary
N/A

Cases referred to
N/A

Cases referred to in commentary
Albrecht Dürer v. Marcantonio Raimondi

Institutions referred to
N/A

Institutions referred to in commentary
Signoria of Venice (Supreme Government)

Key words
reprints
counterfeit
signature
copy

Responsible editor
Joanna Kostylo, Martin Kretschmer




Copyright status

Original document is out of copyright. In so far as these scans are protected by copyright, they are made available on the same terms as translations and commentaries (see home page).




Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 10 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DZ, UK