FRANCO, Baptist (ca. 1510-1561). Six animals, including two lions, a tiger, a leopard, a griffin and a goat. Venice, ca. 1530-1561. Rare (no passage recorded in the auction, RBH) engraving in the first state of two (before the appearance of the author's name) by Battista Franco, painter, Venetian designer and engraver among the most original interpreters of Italian Mannerism. Formed in the lagoon environment and active in Rome, Urbino and Venice, Franco developed a language strongly influenced by Michelangelo's work, transferring its anatomical monumentality also in the graphic production. The work testifies to the growing 16th century interest in the observation of nature and the representation of animals, intended to constitute figurative repertoires for painters, engravers and decorators. The figures, characterized by a marked plasticism and a vigorous sketch, reveal Franco's personal interpretation of the Roman graphics of the mid-16th century. Copper engraved to the etching and burin (340 × 495 mm) second state of two (sign of bending in the center, some small lack) applied on sheet of the eighteenth century with note of ancient collector "Battista Franco made from the ancient" and ancient collection number N 233. (1)