Etchings Institutions search term: copley society
Long Venice |  Freer Gallery of Art (1898.400) | |
| Number: | 211 | |
| Date: | 1879/1880 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 128 x 311 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at lower left | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | 'Second Venice Set', 1886 | |
| No. of States: | 8 | |
| Known impressions: | 37 | |
| Catalogues: | K.212; M.209; W.182 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (37) | ||
STATE
Eight states are known before cancellation.
State 1
Signed with a butterfly at lower left.
The composition is complete, and there is a space between the two domes of Santa Maria della Salute; scraping marks are evident at the upper and lower corners and in several other areas above the lower edge; remnants of lines from an earlier subject are faintly visible at right.
State 2
The two domes of Santa Maria della Salute and the tower to the right of them are removed and replaced with two domes more compactly drawn; the smaller dome overlaps the larger one; right to left diagonal drypoint lines (///) are added to the clouds above the Salute, to the space between the domes and to the sky above the masts and buildings to the right of them; fine horizontal drypoint lines are added to left and right of the billowing cloud at right.
State 3
The domes of Santa Maria della Salute and the heavy drypoint diagonals above the buildings to the right of them are partially removed; new fine diagonal lines are added to the sky to right of the domes; scraping marks are removed from the upper corners, but others remain visible on the lower part of the plate.
State 4
Fine drypoint lines redefine the shapes of the domes of Santa Maria della Salute; strong right to left diagonal lines (///) are added above and to the right of the buildings to the right of Santa Maria della Salute and the masted ships; small patches of diagonal shading are added to the clouds above and to right of the Salute, most notably on the large billowing cloud at right.
State 5
Drypoint shading on the large dome of Santa Maria della Salute is reduced, creating a pale horizontal band between the dome and the walls of the church below it; only faint traces remain of the right to left diagonals above and to right of the buildings to right of the Salute; the patches of shading on the clouds have been reduced or removed.
State 6
The outlines of the Salute's domes and their cupolas are strengthened and slightly redefined; the larger dome appears narrower and more upright.
Published in this and later states by Messrs Dowdeswell and Thibaudeau with the Twenty-six Etchings (the 'Second Venice Set') in 1886.
State 7
The area between the Salute's larger dome and the walls beneath it is wider and less well-defined; six short diagonal and vertical scratches appear on the water between the reflections below the Salute and the lower edge of the image.
State 8
The shapes of the domes of Santa Maria della Salute and the walls beneath them are further redefined; the larger dome is clearly outlined, and there is a distinct, almost triangular patch of shading on the wall beneath it; there are clear vertical walls below the smaller dome; the six scratches on the water are faintly visible
In later impressions of the state, as reproduced below, three new diagonal scratches appear on the water at lower centre, and the lines of the Salute's domes and walls became fainter although their outlines and shading remain clear .
State 8 (cancelled)
Cancelled with crossed diagonal lines across the centre.