After Claude Le Lorrain print Sept 1st 1774 by R. Earlom John Boydell Print # 50

Antique 18th Century Claude le Lorrain delint.t. ; R. Earlom fecit Print. London Published September 1st,1774 by John Boydell Engraver in Cheapside. Framed print measures 13" x 16 1/2" print itself is 7 3/4" x 10 1/2" Description: Genuine antique sepia printed mezzotint with etching on laid paper by Richard Earlom ( British 1743-1822) after the drawings of Claude Lorrain (French 1600-1682) from Liber Veritatis or a Collection of Two Hundred Prints, after the Original Designs of Claude le Lorrain, in the collection of His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, executed by Richard Earlom in the manner and taste of the Drawings...Published by the Proprietor, John Boydell, Engraver, in Cheapside, London. Claude Lorrain (also Claude Gellee or Le Lorrain) was an artist of the Baroque era who was active in Italy, and is admired for his achievements in landscape painting.His actual name was Claude Gellee, but he is better known by the province in which he was born. Along with Poussin, Claude helped to define the classicizing tendencies of French Baroque art. Claude Lorrain's paintings are absolute points of reference in the genre of landscape. Building on the foundation laid for him by artists like Titian, Paul Bril and Annibale Carracci, Lorrain was the bold leader of the 17th century ideal landscape. Although landscape painting was long perceived as a "lesser" genre, Claude Lorrain achieved enormous success in his own lifetime, and continued to exert a powerful influence on French and English painting for centuries after his death. John Constable described Claude Lorrain as "the most perfect landscape painter the world ever saw", and declared that in Claude's landscape "all is lovely - all amiable - all is amenity and repose; the calm sunshine of the heart". Richard Earlom (1743-1822), etching and roulette, mezzotint, 1774, after a drawing by Claude Lorrain (Claude Gelee), from the Original Collection of the Duke of Devonshire, published by John Boydell. With the lettering in the plate Claude le Lorrain delin at left, R. Earlom fecit right. Richard Earlom was a master printmaker, specializing in the mezzotint. In 1774 the Duke of Devonshire lent his collection of Claude drawings to the publisher Boydell for the purpose of having them engraved, and Boydell commissioned Earlom to do this job. It took about three years, and resulted in several volumes entitled Liber Veritas – the same as the title for the collection. To create the look of the original drawings Earlom started with etching, then used the roulette tool which he was familiar with in his mezzotint work to create the wash tones. It appears that in certain areas Earlom would scrape the roulette work, using a conventional mezzotint technique, to create areas of solid wash with varying intensities of darkness and light. The plates were then printed in a sepia ink, similar to the bistre of the drawings.