A Masterpiece of the 18th-Century Chiaroscuro Woodcut Depicting a Biblical Scene

JACKSON, John Baptist, after VERONESE, Paolo.

The Finding of Moses.

Venice, printed by the artist at the Pasquali Press, 1741

1 sheet (58.5 x 40.7 cm, image 56.2 x 38.4 cm). Chiaroscuro woodcut printed from four blocks in buff, light brown, light gray, and dark gray. Printing information on the stone beneath the infant Moses: “Ex tabella a Paulo Calliari Veron[e]s[e] depicta penes J. Smith Ven[etiis]: J. B. Jackson del[ineavit] sculp[sit] & excud[it] 1741” (i.e., “From a painting by Paolo Calliari [Paolo Veronese] of Verona, in the possession of J. Smith in Venice; drawn, engraved, and published by John Baptist Jackson, 1741”). Dedicatory vignette on the lower right corner: “Ill[ustrissi]mo et Excell[entissi]mo D[omino] D[igno] Everardo Fawkener Eq[ues] Aur[atus] pro Mag[no] Brit[anniae] Rege ad Turc[icae] Imper[ii] Legato. Elegant[ium] artium moecenati munificentis[simo] in sui obsequi argumentum humill[ime] d[onat] d[edicat] J.B. Jackson” (i.e., “To the most illustrious and excellent Lord Everard Fawkener, Knight Bachelor, Ambassador for the King of Great Britain to the Ottoman Empire. Most munificent patron of the fine arts, as a token of his obedience, J.B. Jackson most humbly presents and dedicates this”). Some closed tears and a few small chips on upper margin, all well outside of plate mark; fold on upper left corner and horizontal fold the length of the sheet. A very good impression of one of the technical masterpieces of 18th-century printmaking; overall, excellent.

Separately published large-format chiaroscuro woodcut, printed from four separate woodblocks in distinct color tonalities and brown and buff hues, and featuring striking embossing on thick paper. Conceived in Venice in 1741, this monumental work belongs to Jackson’s historic suite of twenty-four sheets reproducing seventeen masterpieces by 16th-century Venetian masters, including Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, and the Bassano family. The Finding of Moses is executed after a celebrated, now lost oil on canvas by Paolo Veronese. A superb example of Anglo-Venetian cultural exchange, the print features an elegant collector’s vignette in the lower right corner identifying the original painting as part of the legendary collection of Consul Joseph Smith (1682–1770). The dedicatory vignette bears a formal dedication to Sir Everard Fawkener (1694–1758), a wealthy English merchant, Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and close friend of Voltaire.

To achieve the complex tonal graduation of the woodcut, Jackson used four separate woodblocks per print—one key block for the structural outlines and three distinct tone blocks for color graduation and used custom oil-based pigments. To stamp the inks onto thick paper, Jackson engineered a heavy, custom-built rolling press. The immense mechanical pressure required for this process resulted in a heavy, highly distinctive embossing along the edges of the blocks. This physical indentation imbues the sheet with a remarkably tactile, three-dimensional depth, making it as much a sculptural artifact as a graphic masterpiece.

Because they were printed on demand in small quantities, individual impressions vary significantly in ink saturation, color balance, and the crispness of their roller-press embossing. Unlike traditional mass-produced print series, these subscriber editions utilized custom-mixed oil pigments that shifted slightly across printing sessions, rendering each surviving sheet a uniquely tactile artifact.

Financed through a subscription model orchestrated by Consul Joseph Smith, these works were sold directly to affluent British aristocrats traveling on the Grand Tour when they were first published. Later reissued as a collected album by Giovanni Battista Pasquali—a prominent Venetian printer and protégé of Smith—the series was grouped under the Latin title Titiani Vecelii, Pauli Caliari, Jacobi Robusti et Jacobi de Ponte opera selectiora. Comprising twenty-four sheets depicting seventeen paintings, a complete bound album of this series is exceptionally rare today.

John Baptist Jackson (1701–1780) was a pioneering British printmaker celebrated for advancing the art of the chiaroscuro woodcut. After an apprenticeship with London engraver Elisha Kirkall, Jackson moved to Paris in 1726 to enter the service of woodcut specialist and author Michel Papillon. In 1731, he departed for Italy, living in Rome and Venice, where he initially struggled commercially and faced severe financial hardship. His fortunes turned when he secured the backing of Joseph Smith, a wealthy British merchant, avid bibliophile, patron of Canaletto, and future British Consul in Venice. This Venetian decade marked the summit of his career. After twenty years abroad, Jackson returned to England and attempted to adapt his fine-art woodcut techniques to a commercial enterprise, establishing a short-lived manufactory for high-end embossed wallpaper. Bankrupt and largely ignored by the London art establishment, Jackson spent his final decades in professional obscurity, fading entirely from view by the time of his death around 1780.

Price: $1,950.00