Reproducing "il primo quadro del mondo" : Fedor Iordan's engraving of Raphael's "Transfiguration," 1835-1850

Fedor Iordan (1800-1883) spent more than 20 years in Europe studying printmaking as a pensioner of the Russian Imperial Academy of Arts: first in Paris, then in London, and finally, from 1835 in Rome, where he embarked on his monumental engraving of Raphael's "Transfiguration." Scrutinizing the production and reception of this print--which took 15 years to complete and afforded the artist an opportunity to remain in Italy--this essay reconsiders Iordan's work within the wider context of international printmaking and, within the emerging debates about Russia's position in transnational artistic developments and its national distinctiveness. [Publication Abstract]