mezzotint, aquatint/paper, 21 x 25.8 cm (plate imprint), 25.8 x 33.1 cm (sheet)
Below the composition on the left: Claude le Lorrain delin/N°7; in the middle: Published Janry 1st 1774 by John Boydell Engraver Cheapside; right: R. Earlom Fecit
state of preservation very good
Plate 7 from the first volume: LIBER VERITATIS; Or A Collection Of Prints, After The Original Designs Of Claude Lorrain; In The Collection Of His Grace The Duke Of Devonshire. Executed By Richard Earlom, In The Manner And Taste Of The Drawings. To Which Is Added A Descriptive Catalogue Of Each Print; Together With The Names Of Those For Whom, And The Places For Which, The Original Pictures Were First Painted. (Taken from the Hand-writing of Claude Le Lorrain on the Back of Each Drawing) And Of The Present Possessors Of Many Of The Original Pictures, Vol. 1-3, London 1777-1819.
"Liber Veritatis" or "Book of Truth" is a kind of catalog of works by Claude Lorrain. The painter had been making drawings according to his paintings since around 1635 for documentation purposes, with the idea of protecting his oeuvre from forgery. The collection of drawings was purchased around 1720 by the Duke of Devonshire. To this day, three volumes of graphic reproductions of these drawings are an aid to identifying Lorrain's paintings. The outstanding engraver Richard Earlom, using the technique of mezzotint and aquatint, brilliantly captured the subtleties of the master's drawing.
