Copyright %C2%A9 1926 The Cranach Press%2C Weimar
The Eclogues of Virgil, 1926
Woodcuts, letterpress; bound volumeexpand_more
Gift of Ruth and Bruce Daytonexpand_more B.91.5.43
Not on Viewexpand_more
Captivated by the books that William Morris (1834-96) was making at his Kelmscott Press in England and the success of French publisher Ambroise Vollard's artist's books, Count Harry Kessler (1868-1937) started his own private Cranach Press in Weimar, Germany, in 1913. One of its first goals was to turn Virgil's Eclogues into the perfect book. Kessler spared little, commissioning woodcuts from Maillol and a new translation from Marc Lafargue. To add a Renaissance flavor, Kessler chose a fifteenth-century Venetian typeface by Nicolas Jenson and hired Morris's colleague Emery Walker to supervise the cutting of new type. Kessler rhapsodized that the font "was winged with inner tension, and it gleamed with tender light." Ever conscious of unity, Maillol designed his 43 woodcuts-here depicting Tityrus-to be equally important to the type, actually referring to his illustrations as "typography."
Details
- Title
- The Eclogues of Virgil
- Artist Life
- 1861–1944
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- B.91.5.43
- Provenance
- Ruth and Bruce Dayton, Wayzata, Minn.; given to MIA, 1991.
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Ransom 163; Muller-Krumbach 40; Artist and the Book 172; Rewald 8-53; Gill 328; Johnson 49; From Manet to Hockney 128
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know
Copyright © 1926 The Cranach Press, Weimar