Hatching System - Contribution of Engravers To Development

Contribution of Engravers To Development

According to the data from the Plantin-Moretus archive, the emblems of Petra Sancta's 1634 book were prepared by artist-engravers in the service of the Jesuit monks first and then between December 1631 and June 1634 it was redone by André Pauwels (Andries Pauli, 1600–1639) for Batlhasar Moretus (1574–1641). The allegorical title page of this book was prepared by Rubens. Petra Sancta's 1638 book was published by Francesco Corbelletti in Rome.

The woodcuts from one of the publications of Corbelletti dated 1627 (Giovanni Antonio Brandi, Cronologia de' sommi pontefici ...., Rome: Francesco Corbelletti, 1627) are good examples of stripping applied for screening. One of the woodcuts (no. 152) in the book shows even a kind of a screening with hatching. Moreover, the arms on the title page of one of the Corbelletti’s 1639 publications (Francesco Liberati, La perfettione del cavallo... Rome: Per gli Heredi di Francesco Corbelletti, 1639) already represents a complete example of heraldic hatching. That means Corbelletti took over the heraldic hatching system already in the next year after the 1638 system of Petra Sancta appeared. If we consider the time needed to prepare the engravings and the approval by the censure, Corbelletti must know the hatching system of Petra Sancta even before 1638.

Thus it’s obvious that Petra Sancta got the model for his heraldic hatching system from the illustrators and publishers of his books in the Low Countries. It is possible that these engravers also knew at least two earlier hatching systems by Zangrius in 1600, and Francquart in 1623. The techniques of heraldic hatching might have even been carried forward by the guilds of engravers one after another. Certainly, Petra Sancta must have at least held consultations with the engravers who were preparing illustrations for his books to explain to them his concept or to develop a coherent method to designate tinctures by mutual agreement.

Designation of tinctures by hatching needs copperplate engravings as the tiny places of the escutcheons need lines close to each other, which is impossible to be realized by using woodcuts. And copperplate engraving was the most developed form of hatching in the Low Countries, especially in Antwerp, while until the 1630s it was almost unknown in some other countries, including Paris. So, the heraldic hatching was developed as a result of the cooperation between heraldists and copperplate engravers and artists.

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