ased.

While working on these prints he began--

to consider on his favourite Work in _Chiaro Oscuro_, and by
intervals examined what he had projected at _Paris_. He began first
to make experiments with Tints, and having proved that Four
Impressions could produce Ten positive Tints, besides _Tratti_ and
_Lights_; he resolved to try a large Piece from _Rubens's_ Judgment
of _Solomon_, with an intent to prove what could be done with the
Efforts of a Type Press before he launched into greater Expences
with another Machine.

He wanted this press in his home, where he could experiment as he
pleased without tying up workmen or equipment in Pezzana's shop. It
might have been professional delicacy that prompted him to ask Pezzana's
permission to have a private press built, or it might have been a bid
for patronage from the generous and influential printer. In any event,
Pezzana responded by having his carpenters build and install the press
at his own expense. To avoid official registrations or craft suspicions,
he had it registered as his own. The trial proofs of _The Judgment of
Solomon_, printed from four blocks, pleased Jackson in every regard
except vigor of impression. Unfortunately no edition was published,
despite the dedication to Filippo Farsetti.

Finished in 1735, this woodcut was probably the first to translate a
painting in a full range of tones. From the purely technical standpoint
it was an incredible achievement. Jackson created a vivid approximation
of a large and complex painting and at the same time produced a vigorous
woodcut. From four superimposed woodblocks, with almost no linework, he
was able to capture the full-blooded forms of Rubens. By keeping his
means simple Jackson asserted the importance of his cutting and
printing, the expressiveness of his drawing, and the fluidity of his
tones. Obviously such a procedure required major decisions as to what to
omit and what to stress; in other words it required interpretive
abilities of a high order.

Evidently Jackson believed that his new chiaroscuro method required
heavier pressure than the platen press was capable of. (On the usual
wooden screw press the size of the platen never exceeded 13 by 19
inches, because the impressions made with a larger platen would not have
been strong enough; for prints larger than the platen, the bed was moved
and the platen pulled down twice.) He had the press returned to Pezzana
and set out to build a m