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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
CHAPTER NINE
CREATIVE EXECUTION: ART AND COPY
This chapter introduces the role of art and copy—the nonverbal and verbal elements of message
strategy—in print, radio, television, and on the Web. It also describes the artists, copywriters, and a
variety of specialists who follow specific procedures for conceptualizing, designing, writing, and
producing IMC messages. To be successful, creatives must be conversant with copywriting and
commercial art terms and formats used in the business. They must also develop an aesthetic sensitivity
so they can recognize, create, evaluate, or recommend quality work.
Learning Objectives:
LO 09-01 Describe the factors involved in creating print ads.
LO 09-02 List the types of copy and explain how great copy is created in print ads.
LO 09-03 Outline how great copy is created in electronic ads.
LO 09-04 Discuss the role of art in electronic ads.
LO 09-05 Review the unique requirements in writing for the Web.
What’s New?
Our new opening vignette gives the background behind McCann’s “Dumb Ways to Die”
safety PSA for the Australia Metro Trains network. The award-winning campaign uses a
highly creative approach to reduce unsafe behaviors around trains. This chapter features seven
“My Ad Campaign” boxes. The first helps students understand the importance of product
facts. The second offers advice from industry legend George Felton about how to write great
headlines and copy. “My Ad Campaign” box number three discusses the chief focus for
visuals. Box number four gives practical tips about layout and design. Box five gives advice
for writing effective copy, and box six provides similar advice for composing radio
commercials. The last box provides advice for creating television commercials.
Application Exercises
Ad Creation Process
Identify the Types of Headlines
Creating TV Commercials
Dumb Ways to Die
Electronic Creativity: Bleachable Moments
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
If you have Internet access in the classroom, show students the “Dumb Ways to Die” spot
(https://youtu.be/IJNR2EpS0jw). If not, ask your students to watch it at home. The ad nicely
demonstrates how creativity and a big idea come together. The point is to illustrate the
creative aspects of advertising deployed on a very serious subject. Ask students to identify
and discuss the creative elements of the spot (copy, art, music, etc.). Then ask them if they
believe it would be effective in changing people’s behaviors. Can creativity sometimes get in
the way of a message? This is a good entry point for discussion of the creative work in
advertising.
In this chapter, students are introduced to how ads are created. In television, storyboard scripts are
used to design commercials. Some DVDs have “special features” that show storyboards and the scene
concurrently. I have a couple of movies that I show the class to demonstrate the phenomenon. By
watching the storyboard and the resulting scene, the students get a good idea of why storyboards are so
important in setting up a commercial. A useful DVD for this concept is the special edition of the
movie Suicide Kings (Artisan Home Entertainment, 1998).
Technology and software allow graphic designers to create more effective ads for print. I like to divide
students into groups and have them use different programs to create an ad (usually for the advertising
campaign). Students are amazed at how easy it is to add effects such as darkness or stars to pictures.
They also have fun adding text to pictures. I have had students create animated images. Students enjoy
being creative while simultaneously learning the benefits that software brings to creative departments.
In-class activities can include creating a copy platform for a brand (real or imagined) or pairing up
students as copywriters and art directors and having them work on a rough layout.
AdWorks http://www.adworkscorp.com
B Creative www.bcreative.com
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
Video Resources:
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. Vignette—The story of how McCann’s Melbourne, Australia, office developed a creative PSA
campaign called “Dumb Ways to Die” to reduce fatal accidents around trains.
II. Delivering on the Big Idea: Integrating the Visual and the Verbal
A. The “Dumb Ways to Die” ad demonstrates that what’s shown is just as important as
what’s said.
B. The nonverbal aspect of an ad carries at least half the burden of communication. It helps
position the product and create personality for the brand. It creates the mood of the ad.
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
5. Approval—The work of the copywriter and art director is always subject to approval.
The larger the agency and the larger the client, the more formidable this process
becomes.
Activity Summary: In this activity, students are reminded that the ad creation process begins
with abstract ideas and then goes through a series of steps leading to a finished advertisement.
In the exercise, students click and drag steps in this process into columns that identify if they
are part of the first, second, or third stage of ad development. (Note: A keyboard accessible
version of this activity is also available.)
Type: Click and Drag
Learning Objectives:
Learning Objective: 09-01 Describe the factors involved in creating print ads.
Difficulty Level: 1 Easy
Blooms: Analyze
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Follow-Up Activity: Instructors could ask students to produce thumbnails for an
advertisement for a common household product, such as soap.
• Proprietary information
Product’s trade name.
Trademark.
Product symbol.
Other copyrighted or patented information.
• History
When was the product created or invented?
Who introduced it?
Has it had other names?
Have there been product changes?
Is there any “romance” to it?
• Research
Are research results available?
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
• Packaging
Unit size or sizes offered.
Package shape.
Package design.
Styling.
Color.
Special protection for product.
A carrier for product.
Package label.
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
e. One element, or one part of the ad, should have enough emphasis to dominate all
others.
E. The Use of Visuals in Print Advertising
Artists who paint, sketch, and draw in advertising are called illustrators. The artists who
produce pictures with a camera are photographers. Together they are responsible for all
the visuals, or pictures, we see in advertising.
1. Purpose of the Visual—Because it carries so much responsibility for an ad’s success,
the visual, or picture, should be designed with several goals in mind:
a. Capture the reader’s attention.
b. Clarify claims made by the copy.
c. Identify the brand.
d. Show the product actually being used.
e. Qualify readers by stopping those who are legitimate prospects.
f. Convince the reader of the truth of copy claims.
g. Arouse the reader’s interest in the headline.
h. Emphasize the product’s unique features.
i. Create a favorable impression of product or advertiser.
j. Provide continuity for the campaign by using a unified visual technique in each
ad.
2. Selecting the Visual—The kind of picture used is often determined during the
visualization process. Selecting an appropriate photo or visual is a difficult creative
task. Art directors deal with several basic issues:
a. Is a visual needed for effective communication?
b. If a visual is required, how many should there be?
b. Should the visual be black-and-white or color? Is this a budgetary decision?
c. What should the subject of the picture be? Is that subject relevant to the
advertiser’s creative strategy?
d. Should the ad use a hand-rendered illustration, a photograph, or a computer-
generated illustration?
e. What technical and budgetary issues must be considered?
Headlines
“Achieve synergy, not redundancy.” The headlines and artwork should work together to
create an idea, but not be completely redundant.
“Let the consumer do some of the work.” Avoid ads that insult the audience’s intelligence.
“Combine overstatement and understatement.” If the visual is BIG, make the headline
small. And vice versa.
“Emphasize one idea per ad.” If you have several ideas, show how they are linked to make
them one.
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
Copy
Freelance copywriter John Kuraoka offers some excellent advice for new copywriters at
http://www.kuraoka.com/how-to-write-better-ads.html.
Here are summaries of his recommendations for your visuals:
Capture the reader’s attention.
Clarify copy claims.
Let the reader know the ad is directed at him or her.
Show the product in use.
Offer evidence for copy claims.
Emphasize the product’s unique features or benefits.
Unify the different ads in the campaign.
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
4. How to use the product. Recipe ads featuring a new way to use food products have
historically pulled very high readership scores.
5. Product features. Computer software ads frequently show the monitor screen so the
prospect can see how the software features are displayed.
6. Comparison of products. The advertiser shows its product next to a competitor’s and
compares important features.
7. User benefit. It’s often difficult to illustrate intangible user benefits. However, marketers
know that the best way to get customers’ attention is to show how the product will benefit
them, so it’s worth the extra creative effort.
8. Humor. If used well, a humorous visual can make an entertaining and lasting impression.
But it can also destroy credibility if used inappropriately.
9. Testimonial. Before-and-after endorsements are very effective for weight-loss products,
skin care lotions, and bodybuilding courses.
10. Negative appeal. Sometimes visuals point out what happens if you don’t use the product.
If done well, that can spark interest.
A. Headlines
The headline contains the words in the leading position of the advertisement. These are
the words that will be read first and are situated to draw the most attention. Headlines
usually appear in larger type than other parts of the ad.
1. Role of Headlines
a. Effective headlines do the following:
i. Attract attention to the ad.
ii. Engage the audience.
iii. Explain the visual.
iv. Lead the audience into the body of the ad.
v. Present the key benefit.
b. Headlines should engage the reader—fast—and give a reason to read the rest of
the ad.
c. Ideally, headlines should do the following:
i. Present the complete selling idea. Three to five times as many people read the
headline as read the body copy. Most headlines average eight words.
ii. Offer a benefit that is apparent to the reader and easy to grasp.
iii. Present product news.
___Formal balance. Perfect symmetry is the key to formal balance: matched elements on
either side of a line dissecting the ad have equal optical weight. This technique strikes a
dignified, stable, conservative image.
___Informal balance. A visually balanced ad has elements of different size, shape, color
intensity, or darkness at different distances from the optical center. Like a teeter-totter, an
object of greater optical weight near the center can be balanced by an object of less weight
farther from the center. Many ads use informal balance to make the ad more interesting,
imaginative, and exciting.
Movement
Movement is the principle of design that causes the audience to read the material in the
desired sequence. It can be achieved through a variety of techniques.
___People or animals can be positioned so that their eyes direct the reader’s eyes to the next
important element.
___Devices such as pointing fingers, boxes, lines, or arrows (or moving the actors or the
camera or changing scenes) direct attention from element to element.
___Design can take advantage of readers’ natural tendency to start at the top left corner of the
page and proceed in a Z motion to the lower right.
___Comic-strip sequence and pictures with captions force the reader to start at the beginning
and follow the sequence in order to grasp the message.
___Use of white space and color emphasizes a body of type or an illustration. Eyes will go
from a dark element to a light one, or from color to noncolor.
___Size itself attracts attention because readers are drawn to the biggest and most dominant
element on the page, then to smaller elements
Proportion
___Elements should be accorded space based on their importance to the entire ad. Attention-
getting elements are usually given more space. Avoid the monotony of giving equal
amounts of space to each element.
White Space (Isolation)
___White space is the part of the ad not occupied by other elements (note that white space
may be some color other than white). White space helps focus attention on an isolated
element—it makes the copy appear to be in a spotlight. White space is an important
contributor to the ad’s overall image.
Contrast
___An effective way of drawing attention to a particular element is to use contrast in color,
size, or style; for example, a reverse ad (white letters against a dark background) or a
black-and-white ad with a red border.
Clarity and Simplicity
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
___Any elements that can be eliminated without damaging the overall effect should be cut.
Too many type styles; type that is too small; too many reverses, illustrations, or boxed
items; and unnecessary copy make for an overly complex layout and an ad that is hard to
read.
Unity
___Unity means that an ad’s many different elements must relate to one another in such a way
that the ad gives a singular, harmonious impression. Balance, movement, proportion,
contrast, and color may all contribute to unity of design. Many other techniques can be
used: type styles from the same family, borders around ads to hold elements together,
overlapping one picture or element on another, judicious use of white space, graphic tools
such as boxes, arrows, or tints.
Continuity
___Continuity is the relationship of one ad to the rest of the campaign. This is achieved by
using the same design format, style, and tone; the same spokesperson; or the same graphic
element, logo, cartoon character, or catchy slogan.
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
There is no denying that success breeds imitation, and not just in ad agencies. Alfred
Whitehead contended a hundred years ago that the history of Western philosophy was one
long footnote to Plato, and, indeed, his basic ideas do form the foundation of some of
contemporary philosophy. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” It is almost
impossible to get an imitator to admit copycat advertising, let alone pull it from the
marketplace. Once an advertising campaign is out there, millions of dollars have probably
been committed to executing it, but a successful lawsuit can stop it from running.
2. Who wins and who loses when advertising is imitated? Do you believe that it’s actually an
advantage to be copied?
Answer guidelines:
The crux of the problem may be that imitation is an accepted part of the business, at least
unofficially. Clients tend to avoid the debate, perhaps because they’re more comfortable
with well-worn ideas than with bold, original concepts. Many art directors and writers
collect competitive ads for inspiration. And advertising is such a highly collaborative
process that it’s often difficult to determine each individual’s creative contribution.
Few art directors and writers are likely to say it’s an advantage to be copied. They are
least likely to be concerned when the ads in question are for non-competing products and
therefore are aimed at different consumer bases.
3. What would you do if a client asked you to copy an ad that was already running? Is it
acceptable to plagiarize advertising ideas, as long as they are recycled “in a useful way”?
Client awareness of the issue can be raised by reminding them of the consequences of
legal action and consumer backlash that may occur from plagiarizing.
Sometimes clients even request that a competitor’s advertising be copied. That is also why
there are so many voice-over announcers who mimic famous voices and announcing
styles. The creative person who goes along with the client’s request to imitate a successful
campaign jeopardizes his or her financial future and career. The only way to avoid
compromising personal ethics is to come up with something better, and then convince the
client to run it instead. However, that can be a very dicey proposition.
4. Is plagiarism justified by the contention that “there are very few original ideas”?
Answer guidelines:
Yes: “There are very few original ideas,” according to Philip Circus, an advertising law
consultant to the Newspaper Society in London. “Plagiarism is the name of the game in
advertising. It’s about recycling ideas in a useful way.”
No: Jim Golden, executive producer of DMH MacGuffin, says, “All we have in this
business are creativity and ideas. The moment someone infringes on that, they’re reaching
into the very core of the business and ripping it out.” Ultimately, advertisers must stop
“borrowing” ideas from each other and demand greater creativity from themselves.
d. Question headlines ask a question, encouraging readers to search for the answer
in the body of the ad.
e. Command headlines order readers to do something; sometimes this might seem
negative, but readers pay attention to such headlines.
Activity Summary: This activity tests student knowledge of the different types of headlines
used in advertising. In the exercise, students click and drag sample headlines to the boxes that
identify what type of headline each one exemplifies. (Note: A keyboard accessible version of
this activity is also available.)
Type: Click and Drag
Learning Objectives:
Learning Objective: 09-02 List the types of copy and explain how great copy is created in
print ads.
Difficulty Level: 1 Easy
Blooms: Analyze
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Follow-Up Activity: Instructors could ask volunteers to suggest headlines that could be used
in an advertising campaign aimed at convincing more people to ride the bus. Instructors
should challenge students to use all of the different types of headlines.
B. Subheads
1. A subhead is an additional smaller headline that may appear above or below headline.
A subhead above the headline is called a kicker (or overline), while those below the
headline are called underlines. Subheads may also appear in body copy.
2. Subheads are usually set smaller than the headline but larger than the body copy.
Subheads generally appear in boldface type, italic type, or a different color. Most
people only read the headline and subhead. Subheads usually support the interest step
best.
3. Subheads are longer and more like sentences than headlines.
C. Body Copy
The advertiser tells the complete story in the body copy, or text. The body copy
comprises the interest, credibility, desire, and often even the action steps. It is a logical
continuation of the headline and subheads, set in smaller type. It must speak to the
reader’s self-interest, explaining how the product or service satisfies the customer’s need.
1. Body Copy Styles—Experienced copywriters look for the technique and style with the
greatest sales appeal for the idea being presented. Common copy styles include the
following:
a. Straight-sell copy immediately explains or develops the headline and visual in a
straightforward, factual presentation that appeals to the prospect’s intelligence.
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
Don’t overpunctuate. It kills copy flow. Excessive commas are the chief culprits. Don’t
give readers any excuse to jump ship.
Read the copy aloud. Hear how it sounds; catch errors. The written word is considerably
different from the spoken word so listen to it.
Rewrite and write tight. Edit mercilessly. Tell the whole story and no more. When
you’re finished, stop.
2. Formatting Body Copy—The keys to good body copy are simplicity, order,
credibility, and clarity. Four basic format elements are used to construct body copy:
a. The lead-in paragraph is a bridge between the headline and the sales idea
presented in the text. It is part of the interest step.
b. Interior paragraphs develop credibility by providing proof for claims and build
desire by using language that stirs the imagination.
c. A trial close can be interspersed in the interior paragraphs with suggestions to act
now. The trial close encourages a consumer to make the buying decision early.
d. The close is the real action step. A good close asks consumers to do something
and tells them how. The close can be direct or indirect. A direct close seeks
immediate response in the form of a purchase, a store or website visit, or a request
for further information.
D. Slogans
1. Many slogans (also called themelines or taglines) begin as successful headlines, and,
through continuous use, become standard statements (not only in advertising but also
for salespeople and company employees, e.g., “Diamonds are forever” or “Reach out
and touch someone”).
2. Slogans have two purposes:
a. Provide continuity to an ad series.
b. Reduce an advertising message strategy to a brief, repeatable, and memorable
positioning statement.
E. Seals, Logo, and Signatures
1. A seal is awarded only when a product meets standards established by a particular
organization, such as the Good Housekeeping Institute or Underwriters Laboratories.
Because these organizations are recognized authorities, their seals provide an
independent, valued endorsement for the advertiser’s product.
2. Logotypes and signatures are special designs of the advertiser’s company name or
product name. Like trademarks, they give the product or company individuality and
quick recognition.
9-17
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
Important types of headlines are benefit headlines (which promise that experiencing
the utility of the product or service will be rewarding), news/information headlines
(which announce news or promise information), provocative headlines (which
provoke curiosity), question headlines (which encourage readers to search for the
answer in the body of the ad), and command headlines (which order the reader to do
something).
3. When would an advertiser use straight-sell copy rather than device copy?
Straight-sell copy works with concise facts and is good for high think-involvement
products or products that are difficult to use, while device copy opts for figures of
speech, humor, and exaggeration, and is good for building brand recognition.
9-18
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Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy
Take time to set the scene and establish the premise. A 30-second commercial that
nobody remembers is a waste of money. Fight for 60-second spots.
Use familiar sound effects. Ice tinkling in a glass, birds chirping, or a door shutting can
create a visual image. Music also works if its meaning is clear.
Paint pictures with your words. Use descriptive language to make the ad more
memorable.
Make every word count. Use active voice and more verbs than adjectives. Be
conversational. Use pronounceable words and short sentences.
Be outrageous. The best comic commercials begin with a totally absurd premise from
which all developments follow logically. But remember, if you can’t write humor really
well, go for drama.
Ask for the order. Try to get listeners to take action.
Remember that radio is a local medium. Adjust your commercials to the language of
your listeners and the time of day they’ll run.
Presentation counts a lot. Even the best scripts look boring on paper. Acting, timing,
vocal quirks, and sound effects bring them to life.
F
IFTEENTH-CENTURY Italian engraving is not an easy hunting-
ground for the collector, but it is one of the most fascinating not
less for its own sake than for the difficulty of securing one’s prize.
From the time of Raphael onward Italian engraving presents an
overwhelmingly large proportion of reproductions of pictures, and
loses on that account its primary interest. But in the fifteenth and the
early sixteenth century, the engravers, though for the most part less
accomplished craftsmen, were artists of real independence. We may
in some cases exaggerate this independence through not knowing
the sources which they used, but the mere lack of that knowledge
adds a particular interest to their prints. Treated not only in virtue of
their special claim as engravings, but merely as designs, we find
something in them which the paintings of the period do not offer us.
In general, the presence and influence of one of the greater artistic
personalities of the time may be recognized, but seldom definitely
enough for us to trace the painter’s immediate direction. Mantegna is
the most brilliant exception of a painter of first rank who is known to
have handled the graver at this period. But forgetting the great
names it is remarkable how in the early Renaissance in Italy even
the secondary craftsmen produced work of the same inexpressible
charm that pervades the great masterpieces.
One of the most beautiful examples I can cite is the Triumph of
Bacchus and Ariadne, which is known only in the British Museum
impression. It has all the fascination of Botticelli’s style without being
quite Botticelli—unless the engraver himself is to account for the
coarsening in the drawing of individual forms. Mr. Herbert P. Horne,
the great authority on Botticelli and his school, thinks it is by
Bartolommeo di Giovanni (Berenson’s “Alunno di Domenico”). But
whether immediately after Botticelli or after some minor artist of the
school, there is the same delightful flow and rhythmic motion in the
design that one thinks of in relation to Botticelli’s Spring.
Botticelli was in early life under the immediate inspiration, if not in the
very service, of the great goldsmith Pollaiuolo (witness his picture of
Fortitude in Florence). One almost expects in consequence that he
may at some period have tried his hand at engraving, but there is no
proof that he did anything besides supplying the engravers with
designs. His chief connection with the engravers was in the series of
plates done for Landino’s edition of Dante’s “Divine Comedy”
(Florence, 1481). Altogether nineteen plates (and a repetition of one
subject) are known, but although spaces are left throughout the
whole edition for an illustration to each canto, it is only in rare copies
that more than two or three are found. Even the fine presentation
copy to Lorenzo de’ Medici (now in the National Library, Florence) is
without a single plate, showing perhaps the small regard that was
paid to engraving for book decoration at that period. This lack of
appreciation and the difficulties (or double labor) the printers
experienced in combining copperplate impressions with type led
soon after this and a few other experiments of the period to the use
of woodcut as the regular mode of book illustration for well over a
century. Apart from the plates to this edition, Botticelli’s devotion to
Dante is shown in the beautiful series of pen drawings—in the most
subtly expressive outline—preserved at Berlin and in the Vatican. It
seems on the whole probable that they are later than the 1481
edition, so that we cannot point to the original drawings for the prints.
Most important of all the contemporary engravings after Botticelli is
the Assumption of the Virgin, the largest of all the prints of the period
(printed from two plates, and measuring altogether about 82.5 × 56
cm.). An original study by Botticelli for the figure of St. Thomas, who
is receiving the girdle of the Virgin, is in Turin, and clinches the
argument in favor of Botticelli’s authorship. The view of Rome, a
record of Botticelli’s visit, is an interesting feature of the landscape.
This engraving is produced in what has been called the Broad
Manner in contradistinction to the Fine Manner, e.g. of the Dante
prints. In the Broad Manner the lines are laid chiefly in open
parallels, and generally the shading is emphasized with a lighter
return stroke laid at a small angle between the parallels. Its aim is
essentially the imitation of pen drawing after the manner of such
draughtsmen as Pollaiuolo and Mantegna. The Fine Manner on the
other hand shows shading in close cross-hatching (somewhat patchy
and cloudy in effect in most of the early Florentine prints), and gives
the appearance of imitating a wash drawing.
The two manners may be well compared in the series of “Prophets
and Sibyls,” which exists in two versions, the earlier being in the
Fine, and the later in the Broad Manner. The first series shows a
craftsman who drew largely from German sources (putting a St. John
of the Master E. S. into the habit of the Libyan Sibyl). In the second
we have an artist who discarded all the ugly and awkward features
which originated in the German originals, and showed throughout a
far truer feeling for beauty and a much finer power of
draughtsmanship than the earlier engraver. Mr. Herbert Horne
suspects, rightly I think, that Botticelli himself directly inspired this
transformation of the “Prophets and Sibyls.”
Through our lack of knowledge of the engravers of this early period
in Florence we are driven to a rather constant use of the somewhat
unattractive distinctions of the Fine and Broad Manners. We may
claim, however, to have advanced a little further in the elucidation of
questions of authorship, though the great German authority on this
period, Dr. Kristeller of Berlin, would still keep practically all the early
Florentine engravings in an unassailable anonymity. This is of course
better than classing all the engravings of the period and school, both
in the Fine and Broad Manners, under the name of Baccio Baldini,
which has long been the custom. A certain “Baccio, orafo” has been
found in documents as buried in 1487, but there is practically nothing
to connect his name with the substance of our prints. We would not
on that account regard him as a myth, but are reduced at the
moment to Vasari’s statement that “Baldini, the successor of
Finiguerra in the Florentine school of engraving, having little
invention, worked chiefly after designs by Botticelli.” Considering the
fact that both Broad and Fine Manners (in all probability the output of
two distinct workshops) show prints definitely after Botticelli, we are
still in entire darkness as to the position of Baldini.
The Libyan Sibyl
From a series of the “Prophets and Sibyls,” engraved in the Fine
Manner of the Finiguerra School
Size of the original engraving, 7 × 4¼ inches
The Libyan Sibyl
From a series of the “Prophets and Sibyls,” engraved in the
Broad Manner of the Finiguerra School
Size of the original engraving, 7 × 4¼ inches
With regard to an important group of Fine Manner prints, Sir Sidney
Colvin has given strong reasons for the attribution to Maso
Finiguerra, made famous by Vasari as the inventor of the art of
engraving. Considering Vasari’s evident error in regard to the
discovery of engraving (for there were engravings in the north of
Europe well before the earliest possible example of Finiguerra),
modern students have been inclined to regard Finiguerra as much in
the light of a myth as Baldini. But there is no lack of evidence as to
his life and work, and without repeating the arguments here, which
are given in full in Sir Sidney Colvin’s “Florentine Picture-Chronicle”
(London, 1898), we would at least state our conviction that a
considerable number of the early Florentine engravings, as well as
an important group of nielli, must be from his hand. Vasari speaks of
him as the most famous niello-worker in Florence, and he also
speaks of his drawings of “figures clothed and unclothed, and
histories” (the “figures” evidently the series traditionally ascribed to
Finiguerra in Florence, but now for a large part labeled with an
extreme of timidity “school of Pollaiuolo”; the “histories,” probably the
“Picture-Chronicle” series, acquired from Mr. Ruskin for the British
Museum). Then considering Vasari’s fuller statement that Finiguerra
was also responsible for larger engravings in the light of a group of
Florentine engravings which correspond closely in style with many of
the only important group of Florentine nielli (chiefly in the collection
of Baron Édouard de Rothschild, Paris) as well as with the Uffizi
drawings, we can hardly escape the conviction that Vasari was
correct in his main thesis. A curiously entertaining side-light is given
by one of these engravings, the Mercury for the series of “Planets.”
Here we see the representation of a goldsmith’s shop in the streets
of Florence, stocked just as we know from documents Finiguerra’s to
have been. And the goldsmith is evidently engaged in engraving, not
a niello, but a large copperplate.
The Planet Mercury
Florentine engraving in the Fine Manner, attributed to
Maso Finiguerra, or his school
“A curiously entertaining side-light is given by one of these
engravings, the Mercury for the series of ‘Planets.’ Here we
see the representation of a goldsmith’s shop in the streets of
Florence, stocked just as we know from documents
Finiguerra’s to have been. And the goldsmith is evidently
engaged in engraving, not a niello, but a large copperplate.”
Arthur M. Hind.
Size of the original engraving, 12¾ × 8⁹⁄₁₆ inches