markable in its feeling for the Rembrandtesque style. The
sky and other parts show English white-line burin work of the type found
in Mattaire's _Latin Classics_ and Croxall's _Aesop's Fables_. The
_Enquiry_ says (p. 45):

As this Painting was extremely favourable for this sort of Printing,
he endeavoured to display all his Art in this Performance, and the
Drawing of _Rembrandt's_ Stile is intirely preserved in this Print;
it is dedicated to Mr. _Smith_, who generously gave the Prints to
all Gentlemen who came to _Venice_ at that time in order to
recommend the Talents of a Man whose Industry might please the
curious, and at least be of some Use to procure him Encouragement to
proceed in other Works of that Kind.

Encouragement soon came. Smith interested two of his friends, Charles
Frederick and Smart Lethieullier, and the three proposed in 1739 the
undertaking of a grand project in chiaroscuro, the reproduction of 17
huge paintings by Venetian masters. This was to be financed by
subscription, says the _Enquiry_ (p. 46):

the Proposals in _French_, and the Conditions expressed therein,
were drawn up as they thought proper, without consulting the
Difficulties that must attend an Enterprize that required some years
to accomplish.

Their own subscriptions were no doubt generous but Jackson found that
his total income from this form of financing, together with possible
future sales, would hardly cover his expenses. Other hazards made his
situation even worse. War broke out in Europe before he was halfway
through, and many English gentlemen, his potential subscribers, left the
country. This exodus meant financial disaster, but Jackson kept at his
task. He should, he said, have gone to England for his own best
interests but felt that he couldn't disappoint his distinguished
patrons.

The first print completed was after Titian's _St. Peter Martyr_ at the
Dominican Church of Sts. Giovanni and Paolo. In coloring it is similar
to the Rembrandt print, with gray-green sky, yellow lights, and cool
brown shadows. While attractive and forceful, it is not as effective as
the Rembrandt because Titian, with his greater range of color, presented
a more complex problem. Most of the prints thereafter leaned to
monochromes in either browns or greens. The _St. Peter_ was finished in
1739 and in the same year five more prints were brought to completion.

In 1740 he produced the three sheets which made up Tintoret