MUSI, Agostino De', Agostino De Musis, called Agostino Ve...

Vulcan giving Cupid's arrows to Venus; after Raphael. 1530. Engraving 355mm x 255mm ( image ). Mounted, framed and glazed.

      Almost certainly a later sixteenth century impression, small repair at the lower end. Musi was an eminent engraver born in Venice about 1490, he was a pupil of Campagnola, and afterwards formed his style on a study of Albrecht Dürer. He was one of the printmakers who, together with Marcantonio Raimondi and Marco Dente da Ravenna, was chiefly employed in engraving the designs of Raphael and his studio. The prints of Musi are quite uncommon, particularly fine impressions. He sometimes marked them with a tablet similar to that used by Marc Antonio, but more frequently with the initials A. V. with the date. The tablet is quite clear in this impression in the lower left corner. For more details of Musi see Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. See also Bartsch, vol. XIV, 1920. And Oberhuber, Konrad. The Works of Marcantonio Raimondi and his School. The illustrated Bartsch, 27. 1978.