Woodcut, Italy, 16th Century. Cupid’s arrow will deflect the gaze of the maiden from her mirror to a boy in the band, and Love will replace Vanity as soon as eye contact is made. Concepts such as Love, Hate, Health, Disease, etc., were considered entities that could travel from eye to eye. “Love at first sight” is still held to be an acceptable reason explaining the desire to mate with a particular person. Love and marriage were always very different ideas, and passion could upset a family’s desire for “the perfect match”.

Limited edition (250) linoleum block print.

by Baude Cordier, Codex Chantilly, France, 14th Century

"Lovely, good, wise, gentle and noble one,
On this day that the year becomes new
I make you a gift of a new song
Within my heart, which presents itself to you.
Do not be reluctant to accept this gift,
I beg you, my sweet damsel;
(Lovely, good, wise...)
For I love you so well that I have no other purpose,
And know well that you alone are she
Who is famous for being called by all:
Flower of beauty, excellent above all others.
(Lovely, good, wise...)"

Open edition fine art replica print

After a woodcut in Jost Amman's Kunstbüchlin published by Johann Feyerabend, Frankfurt, 1599.

Open edition engraving

After a woodcut, Basel, circa 1475.

Limited edition (250) linoleum block print

After a woodcut, France, 15th Century

Limited edition linoleum block print

Image Size: 6-1/2" x 5-1/2"
Matted size: 12-3/4" x 11-3/4"

After a manuscript illumination, Germany, 14th Century

Limited edition linoleum block print. Black ink only.

Image Size: 6-1/4" x 6-1/4"
Matted Size: 12" x 11-1/4"

From an illustration in the Manesse Codex which contains 14th century song lyrics praising love and chivalry for the German troubadors called "minnesingers".

Limited edition linoleum block print.

After a woodcut in Der Seelentrost, Augsburg, 1478.

Limited edition (250) linoleum block print

Compiled from various 12th century treatises on the proper manner of courtly romance including Capellanus' De Arte Honesti Amandi and Marie de France's Equitan.

Open edition engraving. All 5 ink colors available.

after a 1536 maiolica plate painted in Casteldurante.
Perhaps a satiric (!) portrait of the poet Pietro Aretino, this is certainly one of the strangest "portraits" of a poet ever made. It was a reaction to Marcantonio Raimondi's engravings and the lewd sonnets by Aretino that accompanied their republication (and, of course, subsequent censorship) as I Modi in 1527. This bizaar image of a head is comprised entirely of penises. The text is in retrograde, meaning Aretino is going the wrong way. IZAC ED ATSET ANU ESSOF EMOC ADRAUG EM EMOH INGO translates as DAEHKCID A EREW I FI SA EM TA KOOL ELPOEP. Read forward, "Ogni homo me guarda come fosse una testa de cazi" translates as "People look at me as if I were a dickhead". (Also see Woman With Dildo).

Limited edition linoleum block print.
Low resolution JPG image sent on request to patrons over 18 years of age.

Image Size: 6" x 6"
Matted Size: 12" x 12"

After a woodcut, Paris, 1492.
The priest brings together a couple in holy matrimony as God brought Adam and Eve together.

Image restored by redrawing and printed by hand in an open edition from a zinc etched plate.

After an engraving, Venice, circa 1524.
In Venice, in 1524, Marcantonio Raimondi published 16 engravings referred to as 3the Kama Sutra of the west2. The Church confiscated and destroyed all the copies it could find and jailed the artist. After his release, a second edition was made accompanied by reportedly lewd poems by Pietro Aretino, which also resulted in censorship. I have reproduced another of Raimondi's erotica, Woman With Dildo, as a screen print from a hand-cut stencil in a very limited edition of only 12 (!) copies. (Also see Testa de Cazi).

Limited edition serigraph.
Low resolution JPG image sent on request to patrons over 18 years of age.

Image Size: 17" x 8-1/2"
Matted Size: 23" x 14"