The Renaissance Engravers: Fifteenth- And Sixteenth-Century Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts by Gosudarstvennyi Ermitazh (Russia), Ch. A. Mezentseva

The print-makers of the Renaissance were of particular interest to 18th- and early 19th-century Russian collectors. This book provides the best examples from the collection in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. There is an overview of the work of German, Flemish, French, and Italian Masters such as Albrecht Durer, Hans Leonhard, Schaufelein, Lucas Cranach, Hans Holbein the Younger, Pieter von der Hayden, and Baccio Baldini, as well as the many delightful engravings produced by anonymous craftsmen. The first half of the book is devoted to a detailed description and analysis of the prints, including whatever details are available of their provenance. There are brief his-tories of the engravers and, where applicable, the paintings from which the engravings were made. The second half of the book contains plates of the engravings and woodcuts themselves, all reproduced in their original colours.