A new acquisition by a major Swiss museum

Galerie Paul Prouté is pleased to announce the acquisition by the Musée Jenisch in Vevey of an exceptional print: Sculptura in Aes – the invention of copper engraving, after Johannes Stradanus (Flanders, c. 1590).
Founded in 1897, the Musée Jenisch in Vevey is one of the leading fine arts museums in French-speaking Switzerland. It holds one of the most important collections of graphic arts in Switzerland, with more than 35,000 works on paper – drawings, prints, watercolours – from the 15th century to the present day. This acquisition reflects the museum’s active commitment to old master prints and their place at the heart of European heritage.
This burin engraving is plate 19 of the celebrated suite Nova reperta, a set of twenty compositions celebrating the great inventions of the Renaissance, engraved by various artists including Hans Collaert II and Théodor Galle.
The work depicts the engraver’s workshop in full activity, paying tribute to the very invention of intaglio printmaking – a particularly symbolic subject for a gallery specialising in works on paper.
A fine impression of the second state (of four), this piece bears witness to the richness and rarity of the old master prints that the gallery is committed to bringing to public attention and preserving within public collections.