Maso Finiguerra

Maso Finiguerra

Maso Tommasoii Finiguerra (1426–1464) was an Italian goldsmith, draftsman, and engraver working in Florence, whose name is distinguished in the history of art and craftsmanship for reasons which are partly mythical.

Giorgio Vasari claims Finiguerra invented the printmaking technique of engraving (using that word in its popular sense of taking impressions on paper from designs engraved on metal plates to create prints). This made him a crucial figure in the history of old master prints and remained widely believed until the early twentieth century. However, it was gradually realised that Vasari's view, like many of his assertions as to the origins of technical advances, could not be sustained. Typically, Vasari had overstated the importance of a fellow-Florentine, and a fellow-Italian, since it is now clear that engraving developed in Germany before Italy. Although he clearly was an important artist of his time, few surviving works, and no surviving prints, can now be definitely attributed to him, so scholarly interest in him has greatly reduced.