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GIOVANNI BENEDETTO CASTIGLIONE (1609-64)
The Nativity with Angels and God the Father
c. 1655RCIN 970068
Most of the ink is removed from the plate when the first pull of a monotype is taken, but a little remains, and a weaker second pull can be made, as here (the first pull survives in Paris). In a second pull any variations in the background tone are exaggerated, and the remarkable range of light effects, both intended and accidental, cause the present image almost to descend into incoherence – but what it loses in legibility it gains in mystery.
Cat. 77