first edition Hardcover
1818 · Rome
by Rossini, Luigi (1790 - 1857)
Rome: Giovanni Scudellari, 1818. SECOND EDITION, EXPANDED, WITH NINE NEW PLATES NOT IN THE FIRST EDITION of 1817. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in late 19th c. or early 20th c. blue marbled paper over boards (spine backed in later blue cloth), wear to extremities, corners bumped. A fine copy with broad margins and only minor blemishes: title and the first few plates lightly foxed; the final three foxed and lightly spotted. The title is lightly soiled and foxed, with a small light stain in lower margin, and a light crease in the inner margin. Fine, dark impressions of the plates. These are among the earliest etchings of Roman monuments created by Luigi Rossini, "the most important graphic illustrator of Rome in the nineteenth century"(Millard) and the last of the great artists to produce large-scale etched views (vedute), plans, and speculative reconstructions of Rome's ancient remains. The first edition of 1817 had only forty-one views, the first of which, an architectural capriccio, served as the title page. The success of the first edition prompted Rossini to produce an additional nine plates and to issue this second edition. Among the nine new etchings are two of the most striking: the view of the Arch of Constantine (46) and the Pantheon (49). The original title plate has been renamed "scena teatrale" and numbered as plate 50. Both editions are rare.
A number of these Roman views produced in 1817-1818 served as models for Rossini's larger-scale etchings of the same subjects (issued in 1823); other compositions are unique to this series. Comparison of the smaller plates with the larger series show that Rossini was an accomplished etcher in both formats.
Rossini's inspiration was the undisputed master of such images, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and it was he that the young Rossini set out to emulate even as he developed his own artistic style and identity. It was a bold move to invite such explicit comparison between his work and those of Piranesi, but Rossini proved himself to be no slavish pasticheur.
Rossini's artistic and philosophical objectives -and therefore the images that he produced- were markedly different from those of Piranesi. His images reflected the new realities of the post-Napoleonic era, and reflected the development of a more modern, scientific archaeology, expressed in extraordinarily beautiful and powerful images.
"With his works depicting Rome through the most significant and evocative images, produced over about a half a century of intense activity, Rossini gradually reshaped the face of the city, depicting with acute and objective attention the features of its complex archaeology and its most attractive locations. While remaining within the context of the veduta, Rossini never ceased documenting the archaeological remains with scholarly accuracy, introducing some substantial innovations compared to previous interpretations. By depicting yet again the landscapes and monuments of Rome and its surroundings, while recording the most picturesque and distinctive aspects of its everyday life, his work moved closer to a Romantic vision, while seeking to present an extremely meticulous documentation based on studies of the sources and direct examination of the latest discoveries, illustrating the restoration work being carried out, reconstructing the plans and elevations of buildings and sites, so making him a protagonist of the cultural elaboration of Rome in the early nineteenth-century.
"Through his landscape and archaeological views, Rossini interpreted Rome as a privileged place for objective, scholarly and poetic evocations, translated into etchings with the utmost technical virtuosity, and disseminated through the powerful expressive medium of print."(Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini, 'Rossini Architect and Engraver: from views of antiquities to the Romantic spirit' in "Luigi Rossini, Il Viaggio Segreto", 2014)
Note: In 1818 Rossini published his first series of large Roman views under the title "Raccolta di prospettive delle più belle Fabriche di Roma". The work survives in only a few copies, the plates hand-colored and varnished in imitation of Rossini's original water-color drawings. Those plates were re-worked and later re-issued later as " Monumenti più interessanti di Roma dal decino secolo sino al secolo decimottavo". There are two copies of the original hand-colored issue in the U.S. (Morgan, SF State). (Inventory #: 5024)
A number of these Roman views produced in 1817-1818 served as models for Rossini's larger-scale etchings of the same subjects (issued in 1823); other compositions are unique to this series. Comparison of the smaller plates with the larger series show that Rossini was an accomplished etcher in both formats.
Rossini's inspiration was the undisputed master of such images, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and it was he that the young Rossini set out to emulate even as he developed his own artistic style and identity. It was a bold move to invite such explicit comparison between his work and those of Piranesi, but Rossini proved himself to be no slavish pasticheur.
Rossini's artistic and philosophical objectives -and therefore the images that he produced- were markedly different from those of Piranesi. His images reflected the new realities of the post-Napoleonic era, and reflected the development of a more modern, scientific archaeology, expressed in extraordinarily beautiful and powerful images.
"With his works depicting Rome through the most significant and evocative images, produced over about a half a century of intense activity, Rossini gradually reshaped the face of the city, depicting with acute and objective attention the features of its complex archaeology and its most attractive locations. While remaining within the context of the veduta, Rossini never ceased documenting the archaeological remains with scholarly accuracy, introducing some substantial innovations compared to previous interpretations. By depicting yet again the landscapes and monuments of Rome and its surroundings, while recording the most picturesque and distinctive aspects of its everyday life, his work moved closer to a Romantic vision, while seeking to present an extremely meticulous documentation based on studies of the sources and direct examination of the latest discoveries, illustrating the restoration work being carried out, reconstructing the plans and elevations of buildings and sites, so making him a protagonist of the cultural elaboration of Rome in the early nineteenth-century.
"Through his landscape and archaeological views, Rossini interpreted Rome as a privileged place for objective, scholarly and poetic evocations, translated into etchings with the utmost technical virtuosity, and disseminated through the powerful expressive medium of print."(Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini, 'Rossini Architect and Engraver: from views of antiquities to the Romantic spirit' in "Luigi Rossini, Il Viaggio Segreto", 2014)
Note: In 1818 Rossini published his first series of large Roman views under the title "Raccolta di prospettive delle più belle Fabriche di Roma". The work survives in only a few copies, the plates hand-colored and varnished in imitation of Rossini's original water-color drawings. Those plates were re-worked and later re-issued later as " Monumenti più interessanti di Roma dal decino secolo sino al secolo decimottavo". There are two copies of the original hand-colored issue in the U.S. (Morgan, SF State). (Inventory #: 5024)