Philippe Thomassin
Philippe Thomassin (born January 28, 1562 in Troyes , † May 12, 1622 in Rome ) was a French graphic artist and engraver of the 17th century. He was the first teacher of Jacques Callot to learn the art of engraving in Thomassin's studio when he came to Rome in 1609 at the age of 17. Tomassin's work includes over 430 engravings, mostly reproductions of paintings by Italian masters, including Michelangelo , Raffael and Giulio Romano .
biography
Life
Little is known about Thomassin. Information comes mainly from the biography of Jacques Callot . Thomassin was born in 1562, one of dozen children of Jehann Thomassin and his wife Nicole Aubry. After graduating from school, Thomassin did an apprenticeship as a goldsmith . Then he chose a trendy job similar to his father; grinding and decorating buckles. However, this was not enough for a living. In addition, he could not fully exploit his talent in chiselling.
Engraver in Rome
Eleven years after his mother's death, his father died of the plague . The orphan then went to Rome without any means. There he found work as an engraver with Claude Duchet , then with Antonio Tempesta . In the following years he created important works such as the portrait of the then extremely popular Capuchin Felix von Cantalice . In 1588 Thomassin joined forces with the painter Jean Turpin . At the beginning of the year he had married Barbara Unger (or Ungé), the sister of Turpin's wife. While Thomassin took care of the artistic, Turpin ran the business. Thomassin increasingly dealt with religious subjects and began a flourishing business with the copperplate engravings of religious and profane pictures by Italian masters such as Raffael, Federico Barocci and Francesco Vanni , for which there was a great demand at the time. In 1587 he received an order from the Knightly Order of St. John of Jerusalem , later the Order of Malta . He illustrated the statutes of the order with the portraits of the 52 grandmasters .
After executing a portrait of the then Protestant King Henry IV , he ran into serious problems, which led to his arrest in 1590. He had to spend a few days in the dungeon . In early 1602, after the death of his wife Barbara Turpin, he ended his collaboration with Jean Turpin .
In the course of his career, Thomassin freely copied the works of other engravers and painters during and after his collaboration with Turpin. He also bought entire works, changed the signature and ignored the copyrights that are common today , as was quite common at the time.
Finally, Thomassin began training the apprentice Jacques Callot . After a long career, Philippe Thomassin died in Rome on May 12, 1622.
See also
literature
- Edmond Bruwaert: La vie et les oeuvres de Philippe Thomassin, engraver troyen, 1562–1622 . Impr. P. Nouel & J.-L. Paton, Troyes / Paris 1915 (French, archive.org ).
- Eckhard Leuschner: Antonio Tempesta. A pioneer of the Roman Baroque and its European impact. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2005, pp. 189–194.
Web links
- Antiquarum statuarum urbis Romae Liber Primus , Book I, 52 plates (Latin)
- Poster at easyart.de
- Thomassin at allposters.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Édouard Meaume: Recherches sur la vie et les ouvrages de Jacques Callot. Volume 1. Veuve Jules Renouard, Libraire, Paris 1860, p. 16 ( books.google.de ).
- ↑ Edmond Bruwaert: La vie et les oeuvres de Philippe Thomassin, graveur Troyen, 1562-1622 . Impr. P. Nouel & J.-L. Paton, Troyes / Paris 1915, p. 21 and 23 (French, archive.org ): “C'est sans doute aux premiers mois de 1588 que Philippe songea à renoncer à la vie de garçon et à épouser Barbara Ungé. [...] Philippe vit la en compagnie de Jean Turpin, peintre parisien, dont la femme, Bartolomée-Félicie, était sœur de Barbara Ungé »
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thomassin, Philippe |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French draftsman, graphic artist, engraver and eraser |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 28, 1562 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Troyes |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 12, 1622 |
| Place of death | Rome |