Arundel Society chromolithograph of one of the Miracles Of St Bernardino, a suite of panel paintings commissioned by Franciscan friars in 1473. 85cm x 60cm. Housed in a contemporary wooden frame. Arundel Society label to rear.
 
An exceptional example of one of the Arundel Society’s reproductions.
 
The Arundel Society (1848-1897) was founded with the goal of preserving European art from decay and neglect by producing reproductions of it. They began by working with frescoes, reproducing them in wood or steel engravings in black and white.
 
As the society grew, they decided to create reproductions in colour through chromolithography. A copyist would make a watercolour copy of the original painting, and then oil paints were applied to the stones for the final printing, giving the finished product a feeling of the originals, and making them far superior to both contemporary and modern attempts at reproduction.
 
Writing of the society in 1910, R.M. Burch described it as, “the most important non-commercial application of chromolithography”. Members of the Society paid an annual subscription, and in turn received each print they produced - four a year on average. They quickly rose in value after the dissolution of the Society, with prices ranging from 30s for the smaller simpler pieces, up to 300s for more monumental items.