‘Changing Impressions’

At Yale University

NEW HAVEN — A concentrated and informative exhibition of 31 engravings, highlighting an unusual aspect of 16th Century printmaking and collecting, is currently at Yale University Art Gallery. “Changing Impressions: Marcantonio Raimondi and 16th Century Print Connoisseurship” will remain on view through February 13.

At the exhibition’s core are four intriguing impressions of “Mars, Venus and Cupid,” dated 16 December, 1508, by Raimondi (circa 1480-1527), on parchment, all of which have been altered. Peculiarly, all four impressions are printed from the second state of the plate, which is compared with a rare first state impression on loan from the British Museum, London.

The alterations to the parchment second impressions were made by masking part of the plate or scraping the parchment to remove ink from the surface. Were the alterations made as odd experiments — most unusual among 16th Century Italian prints — or deliberately doctored impressions made to deceive collectors?

The exhibition explores in great technical detail these and other masterworks by Raimondi, as well as prints by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), employing ultra-violet and infrared photography, X-rays, microscopic examination of surfaces and an analysis of both ink and parchment. It also addresses issues of print connoisseurship and matters of reception and collecting.

Yale University Art Gallery is on Chapel Street at York. It can be reached by calling 203/432-0600.