Rovine, inventione di Giovan. Loren. Legeay Architet., intagliate da lui stesso in Luce 1768.

1770. FANTASTIC RUINS LE GEAY, Jean Laurent. Rovine, inventione di Giovan. Loren. Legeay Architet., intagliate da lui stesso in Luce 1768. [24] ff. (24 etchings). 275 x 210 mm., bound in contemporary half-calf over boards. N.p: [1770]. Complete set of Le Geay's rare and extraordinary series of architectural fantasies on the themes of fountains, tombs, ruins and vases, combining references to the antique past (including crumbling Egyptian and Roman ruins), Biblical subjects, monsters, reptiles, Chinese figures, plaques with indecipherable inscriptions, and much more, all set in decaying, classical landscapes. These twenty-four etchings comprise Le Geay's most celebrated graphic works. The etchings in the present set belong to the second state, in which each plate was completely reworked by the artist. Indeed, no plate escaped significant alteration, for Le Geay systematically introduced or darkened shadows, added irregular lines to emphasize the rough surfaces, utilized cross-hatching to solidify forms, etc. In most cases the differences between the first and second states are remarkable: compare, for instance, the third plate in the Ruins series, where Le Geay completely burnished out the background and replaced the aqueduct with an idealized landscape. The etchings in the present set were first created when Le Geay was in London. Three of the suites are dated 1767-1768 and are captioned in Italian. A few critics (namely Emile Kaufmann and Jean-Claude Lemagny) have suggested that these visionary designs were made much earlier, perhaps at Rome from 1737-1740, when Le Geay was studying at the Académie de France with the young Piranesi. However, the consensus now is that the prints were executed first in London (1767-1768), then completely reworked by Le Geay and then issued in Paris in 1770. The frontispiece of the French publisher (Chez Mond'hare), lacking in this copy, is not by Le Geay. The set has large margins, and although there is some, mostly marginal, foxing, the plates are all in fine impressions. References: Gilbert Erouart, Jean Laurent Le Geay, un Piranésien Français dans l'Europe des lumières nos. 127-150. Guilmard p. 238, no. 55. Berlin Katalog 4182. Literature: Emile Kaufmann & Jean-Claude Lemagny, Nouvelles de l'Estampe, 1956, p. 311. John Harris, "Le Geay, Piranesi and International Neo-Classicism in Rome 1740-1750" in: Essays in the History of Architecture presented to Rudolf Wittkower, 1967. J.M. Pérouse de Montclos, Boulée, 1969, p. 41 (and fig. 10). R.P. Wunder, "The Spread of 'Piranesism' to France through Le Geay and Challe" in: Piranèse et Les Français: Colloque, 1978, pp. 553-562.