"The Infancy of Bacchus", after the painting by Joseph Victor Ranvier [1832-1896]. Antique Victorian photogravure; engraved by Goupil, 1881; printed on heavy stock paper; signed in plate " J. V. Ranvier, Pinx." and "Gravure Goupil et Cie.". "The Masterpieces of French Art." The description page for this print is included.

Design 9.7/8" x 5.1/4" [250mm x 135mm], the entire plate is 11.1/2" x 14.1/2" [290mm x 380mm]; some foxing, very good condition [see photo].

"The education of the infant Bacchus, our mythologies inform us, was confided by his immortal father Zeus to the nymphs of Nysa in Thrace, to which fact lexicographers attribute his ancient Greek title of Dionysus. The young god's childhood must have been a pleasant one, spent as it was among the Thracian groves and by the banks of the smiling river Nysa, in which the artists shows him sporting with the ripples of the genial flood. The painter, Joseph Vincent Ranvier, is a native of Lyons, and learned to draw at the local art school in order to become a designer for the silk and wall-paper manufacturers. Having succeeded in accumulating a modest capital of his earnings in the service of industrial art, he settled in Paris as a pupil of Janniot and of Richard, and won his first medal at the Salon of 1865. He became a favorite artist in the field of figure, and received the cross of the Legion of Honor in 1878." [Goupil]

In 1870s-1890s, Goupil & Cie were the leading art dealers in 19th century France, with headquarters in Paris and a network of branches in London, Brussels, The Hague, Berlin and Vienna, as well as in New York and Australia. Instrumental for this expansion was the "Ateliers Photographiques", a plant north of Paris, in Asnieres, which took up its work in 1869. The photogravures created in this plant dominated the world art market of 1880s-1890s.

The creation of the photogravure plate was a complicated process requiring a work by a photographer and experienced master-engraver. First, a copper plate was coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high-quality intaglio print that can reproduce the detail and continuous tones of a photograph. It is a manual process. Therefore, the quality of the photogravure depends on the masterly execution by the engraver.

Photogravures were engraved on copper plates and leave a plate impression in the paper. Due to relative softness of copper, the editions of photogravures were limited to a few thousand copies similarly to copper engravings and etchings.

Artwork will be mailed unframed.

US: Priority (c 2-4 days) --------- $20.50
Canada: 1st Class (c 2-6 weeks) -- $27.50
World: 1st Class (c 2-7 weeks) --- $35.50