Some German writers, not satisfied with these proofs of the art being practised in Germany before it was known in Italy, refer to an engraving, dated 1499, by a German artist of the name of Mair, as one of the earliest executed in this manner. This engraving, which is from a copper-plate, cannot fairly be produced as evidence on the point in dispute; for though it bears the appearance of a chiaro-scuro engraving, yet it is not so in reality; for on a narrow inspection we may perceive that the light touches have neither been preserved, nor afterwards communicated by means of a block or a plate, but have been added with a fine pencil after the impression was taken. It is, in fact, nothing more than a copper-plate printed on dark-coloured paper, and afterwards heightened with a kind of white and yellow body-colour. It is very likely, however, that the subject was engraved and printed on a dark ground with the express intention of the lights being subsequently added by means of a pencil. The artist had questionless wished to produce an imitation of a chiaro-scuro drawing; but he certainly did not effect his purpose in the same manner as L. Cranach, H. Burgmair, or Ugo da Carpi, whose chiaro-scuro engravings had the lights preserved, and required no subsequent touching with the pencil to give to them that character. The subject of this engraving is the Nativity, and there is an impression of it in the Print Room of the British Museum.[V-2] In the foreground, about the middle of the print, is the Virgin seated with the infant Jesus in her lap. At her feet is a cradle of wicker-work, and to the left is an angel kneeling in adoration. On the same side, but further distant, is Joseph leaning over a half door, holding a candle in one hand and shading it with the other. In the background is the stable, in which an ox and an ass are seen; and the directing star appears shining in the sky. The print is eight inches high, and five inches and three-eighths wide; at the top is the date 1499, and at the bottom the engraver’s name, MAIR. It is printed in black ink on paper which previous to receiving the impression had been tinted or stained a brownish-green colour. The lights have neither been preserved in the plate nor communicated by means of a second impression, but have been laid on by the hand with a fine pencil. The rays of the star, and the circles of light surrounding the head of the Virgin, and also that of the infant, are of a pale yellow, and the colour from its chalky appearance seems very like the touches of a crayon. The lights in the draperies and in the architectural parts of the subject have been laid on with a fine pencil guided by a steady hand. That the engraver intended his work to be finished in this manner there can be little doubt; and the impression referred to affords a proof of it; for Joseph’s candle, though he shades it with his left hand, in reality gives no light. The engraver had evidently intended that the light