listic details in
a decorative framework.

With opportunities for book illustration gone, Jackson was in a
difficult position. His novel chiaroscuro experiments had consumed
valuable time and had lost him his standing as a steady worker for
printers. Near destitution and scouting around for fresh applications of
the woodcut, he decided to make prints for wallpaper on his new press.
It was a logical step for Jackson, not only because he knew something of
the process but also because he could make use of the chiaroscuro blocks
already prepared. Late in 1737 or early in 1738 he had his first samples
ready and sent them to Robert Dunbar in London, together with his
conditions for carrying on the trade in Venice. Negotiations dragged,
and Dunbar died before they could come to terms, but the idea of using
his skill and his machine for turning out wallpaper continued to occupy
his mind as a possibility. But, for the time, the undertaking had to be
laid aside while Jackson looked for more immediate means of employment.

At this juncture Joseph Smith befriended him. A merchant of long
standing in Venice, who became the British consul there in 1745, Smith
was a bibliophile, gem collector, and connoisseur of the arts. In spite
of Walpole's sneering reference to him as "the merchant of Venice," it
must be said that he was expert in his fields of interest. He had
excellent taste. His fine collection of books was purchased by George
III in 1765, and the small Rembrandt _Descent from the Cross_ once in
his possession is now in the National Gallery in London.

From Smith's bronze statuette of Neptune, by Giovanni da Bologna,
Jackson produced a chiaroscuro print in four blocks, in imitation, he
asserted, of the prints of Andrea Andreani.[28] In suggesting the
influence of this master, Jackson did not refer to his technique or
style but to his subject: in 1584-1585 Andreani had produced a
chiaroscuro series after other statues by Giovanni da Bologna (B. XII,
VI, 1-4).

[Footnote 28: The _Neptune_ was printed on a type press. One of
the blocks split in printing and Jackson stated that thereafter he
used the cylinder press exclusively.]

The next work in Smith's collection to be reproduced in chiaroscuro was
Rembrandt's _Descent from the Cross_. Jackson was evidently well
satisfied with the results, and with good reason. It is an extremely
effective print, with pale yellow lights and transparent shadows. The
drawing is re