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168:("Book of the different costumes of the Levant"), again by de Nicolay. Davent's latest print for the book is dated 1556, but the published book only contains 61 plates, rather than the 80 in the contract. The publication of this contract by Catherine Grodecki in 1974 ended the discussion over the identity of "Master L.D."; there had been a number of other suggestions, in particular
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Very little is known about his life; his dated prints run between 1540 and 1556, when he left a series incomplete, which may indicate his death. There is no evidence that he trained as a painter, and like many early engravers he may have been trained as a goldsmith, a trade where engraving was still
359:
was that age. It is identified by the inscription beneath, but is not signed by "L.D.", unlike most of Davent's prints. It is certainly not "an actual likeness, since the figure is not in the least individualized". Henri Zerner suggests "most tentatively" that 1498 was the date the sculptor signed
204:
died in March 1547, after which funding for the palace ended, and the school dispersed. These were the first etchings made in France, and not far behind the first
Italian uses of the technique, which originated in Germany. The earliest impressions of all the Fontainebleau prints are in brown ink,
109:, and he may only have started etching, rather than engraving, in about 1540. Others see him as only beginning to make engravings in 1540, when his first dated print appears, and etchings from about 1543–1544. Once the switch had been made, he only made etchings. He was perhaps taught etching by
208:
The intention of the workshop was to disseminate the new style developing at the palace more widely, both to France and to the
Italians' peers back in Italy. Whether the initiative to do this came from the king or another patron, or from the artists alone, is unclear. David Landau believes that
227:
The enterprise seems to have been "just slightly premature" in terms of catching a market. The etched prints were often marked by signs of the workshop's inexperience and sometimes incompetence with the technique of etching, and according to Sue Welsh Reed: "Few impressions survive from these
399:
66:
itself in the 1540s, where he was one of the leading printmakers. Their main purpose seems to have been to record the new style being forged at
Fontainebleau, copying both the main subject paintings and the elaborate ornamental stuccos and other decorations.
228:
plates, and it is questionable whether many were pulled. The plates were often poorly executed and not well printed; they were often scratched or not well polished and did not wipe clean. Some may have been made of metals soft as copper, such as
135:, as a number of prints dated 1546 or 1547 are based on designs by Penni, and printed on paper from Germany (as it then was). These also use black ink and "the printing has a hard, professional look". He produced some of the illustrations for
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340:, though heavily repainted and perhaps moved within the room, which was remodelled more than once, and is now part of the "King's Staircase". Others survive in prints and drawings; the subject with the story of Alexander, Apelles and
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important. His engravings, which are presumed to be his earliest works, show a considerable fluency in this difficult technique. According to Henri Zerner, he may have produced about 9 early prints before moving to
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is a large (9 13/16 in. × 12 in. (25 × 30.5 cm) with small margins) and highly finished etching, to a design by
Primaticcio, that is one of his most highly regarded prints. According to the
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itself, reproducing the designs of the artists for their works in the palace, as well as other compositions they produced. The most productive printmakers were Davent, Fantuzzi, and
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409:, naked, before Alexander the Great, enthroned in the foreground; c.1541/45. After Primaticcio, height 341 mm (trimmed), width: 231 mm. Signed "Bologna L.D."
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256:, see gallery) as representing "the imaginative recording of new artistic expression" in an "experimental etching ... full of adventurous lighting devices and daring
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348:. The oval paintings were set in much larger stucco frames, with a standing female nude to either side and much else besides; several of these survive.
164:
In the 1550s Davent was in Paris, again using Penni's designs. As "Lion Davant" he signed a contract in 1555 to produce illustrations for a book called
321:. It seems to form part of a cycle of five prints on the story of Cadmus, the others by Fantuzzi, Master I♀V, and two unidentified hands.
448:: a sculptor, naked, busy working on a statue of a naked woman. c.1540/45. Etching, after Primaticcio. Height: 235 millimetres (trimmed)
113:, one of the Italians at Fontainebleau, and in turn seems to have passed some of his experience of techniques in engraving on to him.
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176:, and did etch a number of designs by Thirly. In the contract of November 1555 he was recorded as living on the Rue Saint-Jacques.
200:, from which the printing plates were made), and the workshop seems to have been active between about 1542 and 1548 at the latest;
116:
Apart from Penni and
Primaticcio, who he knew, he made prints after drawings brought from Italy, presumably by Primaticcio, by
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Primaticcio was the driving force; he had stepped up to become the director of the work at
Fontainebleau after the suicide of
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With a couple of exceptions his prints are signed only with "L.D.", and his identity was long uncertain; he is known as the
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378:, who commissioned the work. A French audience might therefore regard this point in his life as especially significant.
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355:(see gallery) is "somewhat, but not altogether, surprising" as a subject in France some forty years after 1498, when
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in older literature. Lists of his works have attributed between 98 (Henri Zerner) and 226 (F. Herbet) prints to him.
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332:(1508–1580), from which a total of eleven compositions surviving today are known. The cycle showed the life of
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standing in the foreground in front of his easel", c.1541/45. After
Primaticcio, height 375 mm, width 260 mm.
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Although there is no certain proof, most scholars have agreed that there was a printmaking workshop at the
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in 1548. Henri Zerner only attributed 3 of the illustrations to him, while Herbet gives him 61.
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The obscurity of the subject is very typical of the School of
Fontainebleau, and at times
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Zerner, Henri: École de
Fontainebleau, Gravures, Arts et métiers graphiques, Paris, 1969.
752:
545:
Grivel; Boorsch, 469. These say Herbet's list included 221 and 226 prints respectively.
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Herbet, Félix: Les graveurs de l'École de
Fontainebleau, B. M. Israël, Amsterdam, 1969.
818:
314:
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825:(most relevant text by Suzanne Boorsch or Henri Zerner), 1994, Grunwald Center, UCLA,
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Grodecki, Catherine: in Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et de Renaissance, vol. XXXVI, 1974.
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232:." A broadening market for prints preferred the "highly finished textures" of
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have all been proposed as the hero, but it fits much better with the story of
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was also etched by Master I♀V, and is recorded in a preparatory drawing at
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Les Quatre Premiers Livres des navigations et pérégrinations orientales
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In about 1546 he seems to have left France, perhaps in the company of
393:, perhaps Venus. After Primaticcio, height 280 millimetres (trimmed)
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Davent did three etchings in vertical oval format after the cycle of
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236:, and later "proficient but ultimately uninspired" engravers such as
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Reed, Sue Welsh, in: Reed, Sue Welsh & Wallace, Richard (eds),
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and other artists. It is thought that there was a workshop at the
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and their intention seems to have been essentially reproductive.
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in the mid 16th century, closely associated with the First
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Boorsch, 264–265 – this catalogue entry is by Henri Zerner
804:
Benezit: "DAVENT, Léon." Benezit Dictionary of Artists,
58:, "rendered boldly and freely". Others use designs by
845:
Landau, David, in Landau, David, and Parshall, Peter,
839:, Oxford University Press, accessed January 6, 2017,
835:
Grivel, Marianne, "Davent, Léon", Grove Art Online,
808:, Oxford University Press, accessed January 6, 2017,
817:, in: Jacobson, Karen (ed), (often wrongly cat. as
861:Italian Etchers of the Renaissance and Baroque
487:dated 1547 and signed "L.D.", after Luca Penni
54:and many of his works are based on designs by
778:version by Master I♀V, at the British Museum
374:with the French ambassador in Rome, Cardinal
8:
252:David Landau describes one of his etchings (
166:Livre de la diversitée des habits du Levant
328:in the bedroom of Francois I's mistress,
160:, after 1547, etching after Primaticcio.
18:
529:
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353:Michelangelo at the Age of Twenty-Three
755:, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History,
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863:, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1989,
128:, unlike Fantuzzi and "Master I♀V".
100:. Signed "Bologna", for Primaticcio.
260:, but also defaced by the spots of
289:sitting on a couch and posing for
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823:The French Renaissance in Prints
617:Boorsch, 81–82 (see Table 1), 86
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689:Boorsch, 80–81; Landau, 308–309
172:. He also worked closely with
16:16th-century French printmaker
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590:Grivel; Boorsch, 83; Reed, 29
753:"Cadmus fighting the Dragon"
776:Boorsch, 256–257, 268–269;
313:, the legendary founder of
264:and incompetent printing".
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782:Photo of one of the frames
767:Boorsch, 250–251; Reed, 31
757:Metropolitan Museum of Art
425:at the Age of Twenty-Three
272:Metropolitan Museum of Art
268:Cadmus fighting the Dragon
248:Works, style and technique
221:Cadmus fighting the Dragon
180:The Fontainebleau workshop
707:Boorsch, 95; Landau, 309
75:Nymph mutilating a Satyr
186:Palace of Fontainebleau
96:Hunting Scene, perhaps
64:Palace of Fontainebleau
44:School of Fontainebleau
572:Boorsch, 249; Reed, 31
330:the Duchess of Étampes
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139:by the geographer and
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847:The Renaissance Print
841:subscription required
810:subscription required
671:Boorsch, 89; Reed, 29
360:the contract for his
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56:Francesco Primaticcio
30:Francesco Primaticcio
22:
466:, after Primaticcio
391:Female Nude Standing
368:St. Peter's Basilica
254:Female Nude Standing
202:François I of France
46:. He worked in both
635:Grivel; Boorsch, 89
334:Alexander the Great
283:Alexander the Great
223:, after Primaticcio
901:French printmakers
405:Soldiers bringing
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144:Nicolas de Nicolay
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33:
837:Oxford Art Online
806:Oxford Art Online
234:Nicolas Beatrizet
194:alchemical symbol
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815:Boorsch, Suzanne
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174:Antonio Fantuzzi
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111:Antonio Fantuzzi
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423:Michelangelo
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372:Vatican City
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357:Michelangelo
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242:Pierre Milan
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122:Parmigianino
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743:Landau, 309
734:Landau, 309
716:Boorsch, 79
608:Reed, 29–31
262:foul biting
258:chiaroscuro
238:René Boyvin
190:Jean Mignon
82:Master L.D.
36:Léon Davent
895:Categories
855:0300068832
831:0962816221
799:References
133:Luca Penni
124:, but not
60:Luca Penni
40:printmaker
441:Pygmalion
366:, now in
213:in 1540.
48:engraving
725:Reed, 27
517:Lucretia
407:Timoclea
342:Campaspe
307:Hercules
287:Campaspe
28:, after
653:Benezit
513:Tarquin
485:etching
480:Jupiter
445:Galatea
338:in situ
326:frescos
303:Theseus
291:Apelles
52:etching
25:Bellona
867:
853:
829:
644:Grivel
563:Grivel
536:Grivel
463:Pomona
315:Thebes
311:Cadmus
230:pewter
198:copper
525:Notes
363:Pietà
299:Jason
865:ISBN
851:ISBN
827:ISBN
515:and
443:and
319:Ovid
305:and
285:and
240:and
196:for
148:Lyon
120:and
88:Life
50:and
821:),
897::
780:;
483:,
370:,
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244:.
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