ANTONIO DA TRENTO

Italian printmaker. Of six documented chiaroscuroGLOSSARYIn painting, the modelling of form (the creation of a sense of three-dimensionality in objects) through the use of light and shade. The introduction of oil paints in the 15th century, replacing tempera, encouraged the development of chiaroscuro, for oil paint allowed a far greater range and control of tone. The term chiaroscuro is used in particular for the dramatic contrasts of light and dark introduced by Caravaggio. When the contrast of light and dark is strong, chiaroscuro becomes an important element of composition. woodcuts by the artist (two signed, four mentioned by Vasari), five are skilfully cut in a very controlled two-block style, for example Nude Man in a Landscape. The sixth, the MartyrdomGLOSSARYthe sufferings, torture and death inflicted on a person on account of his faith or convictions. of Two Saints, is among the best of Italian multiple-block chiaroscuros. All are after designs by Parmigianino.

According to Vasari, Parmigianino, arriving in Bologna after the Sack of RomeGLOSSARYClimax of the papal-Imperial struggle and a turning point in the history of Italy, the Sack of Rome resulted from Clement VII's adhesion to the League of Cognac (1526). Imperial troops under the Duke of Bourbon left Milan and joined an army of mainly Lutheran landsknechts (January 1527). The Duke of Bourbon marched on Rome, hoping to force Clement to abandon the League and to provide money for the pay of the Imperial army. A truce made by the Pope and Lannoy failed to halt this advance, and Rome was attacked and taken on 6 May, the Duke of Bourbon being killed at the first assault. Clement escaped into Castel S. Angelo but for a week Rome itself was subjected to a sacking of a peculiarly brutal nature. Although the army was then brought back under some kind of control, it continued to occupy Rome until February 1528, when it finally left the city it had devastated, gutted, and impoverished. in 1527, stayed with a friend for several months and retained Antonio to instruct him in the cutting of two- and three-block prints. Although Vasari stated elsewhere that Parmigianino prepared many other designs to be incised in copper and printed, he implied that Antonio was employed for this purpose. The project foundered because of Parmigianino's painting obligations, whereupon Antonio stole all the prints (or possibly matrixes - Vasari is not clear) in copper and wood and as many drawings as possible and disappeared.

Since the 18th century attempts have been made to rediscover him in the person of the etcher and painter Antonio Fantuzzi, active at Fontainebleau between 1537 and 1550. Four etchings (out of over 100) by Fantuzzi copy Parmigianino drawings and correspond to chiaroscuro designs. This overlap, the hiatus in Antonio da Trento's career, the mention of copperplates by Vasari and the likelihood that such highly prized designs would find a further use enhance the theory, which, however, lacks firm substantiation. All of Antonio's chiaroscuros were recut for later editions, though not those issued by Andreani.