Pitture Del Salone Imperiale Del Palazzo Di Firenze Si Aggiungono Le Pittvre Del Salone E Cortile Delle Imperiali Ville Della Petraia E Del Poggio A Caiano Opere Di Vari Celebri Pittori Fiorentini In Tavole XXVI · Date Ora La Prima Volta In Luce

RA Collection: Book

Record number

05/1641

Variant Title

Tombeaux des princes

Imprint

In Firenze: Anno MDCCLI ·, nella Stamperia di Giuseppe Allegrini al canto della Croce rossa.

Physical Description

Engr. t.pl., engr. frontis. (port. and dedic.), 12, 6, [9] pl.; 693 mm.

Responsibility Note

All plates are signed with names of source-artists, draughtsmen and engravers.

The first two, unnumbered plates are signed as designed and drawn by Joseph Zocchi and engraved by Carlo Faucci or Carlo Gregori.

For plates numbered I-XII source artists were Gio. da S. Giovanni, Cecco Bravo, Ottavio Vannini, Franco. Furino; the draughtsman, Gio. Elia Morghen; the engravers, Felice Polanzani, Gio. Gottofr. Seuter, Carlo Gregori, Antonio Faldoni, G.E. Morghen or Carlo Faucci.

For plates numbered 1-6 the source artist was Bal. Franceschini Volterrano; the draughtsman, G.E. Morghen; the engraver, Giuliano Giampicoli.

For the last nine, unnumbered plates the source artists were J.B. Pittoni, A. Canal, J.B. Cimaroli, D. Creti, N. Ferraivoli, J.P. Mirandol, Fr. Monti, D. Valeriani, Jos. Valeriani, Jos. Orsoni, Sebastiano Ricci, Marco Ricci or A. Balestra; the draughtsman was D.M. Fratta, and the engravers were D. Beauvais, L. Cars, B. Lepicié, J.P. Le Bas, L. Desplaces, C.N. Cochin or N. Tardieu.

The frontispiece portrait carries the dedication from Andrea Gerini to Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany.

References

On Swiny's Tombeaux see G. Knox, '"The tombs of famous Englishmen" as described in the letters of Owen McSwiny to the Duke of Richmond', in Arte Veneta, 37 (1983), p.228-35; B. Mazza, 'La vicenda dei "Tombeaux des princes": matrici, storia e fortuna delle serie Swiny tra Bologna e Venezia', in Saggi e memorie di storia dell'arte, 10 (1976), p.80-102.

Summary Note

Plate IX carries the publication date '1746'.

Plates numbered I-XII, captioned in Italian, show paintings depicting actions of Lorenzo de' Medici (1449-92) - apart from plates XI, XII, which are uncaptioned and show four bas-reliefs. These twelve are signed as after paintings by Giovanni da San Giovanni, Cecco Bravo, Ottavio Vannini and Franco Furino; who were working at the Pitti Palace from 1635 to about 1642.

Plates 1-6, captioned in Italian, show paintings depicting actions of various members of the Medici family. These are all signed as after paintings by Baldassare Franceschini il Volterrano (which he had begun for Don Lorenzo de' Medici's Villa Petraia in 1636and completed about 1648).

The final nine unnumbered plates form a separate group. Each is inscribed 'Mac.S', and shows the tomb of some celebrated person, surrounded by allegoric figures, and is captioned with a quotation from Lucretius, Vergil or other Latin poet. They are signed as after paintings by J.B. Pittoni, A. Canal, J.B. Cimaroli, D. Creti, N. Ferraivoli, J.P. Mirandol, Fr. Monti, D. Valeriani, Jos. Valeriani, Jos. Orsoni, Sebastiano and Marco Ricci and A. Balestra. They are possibly versions of the nine plates published in 1741 under the title Tombeaux des princes, grands capitaines et autres hommes illustres, qui ont fleuri dans la Grand-Bretagne vers la fin du XVIIème et le commencement du XVIIIème siècle - a set of nine plates published after a series of twenty-four paintings of British celebrities commissioned by Owen Swiny (MacSwiny) from that group of artists. (A version with 20 plates, published ca. 1737, is recorded in Christie's catalogue for 2005 June 8.) This set includes Pittoni's celebrated allegoric monument to Sir Isaac Newton, showing the prismatic demonstration of the heterogeneity of sunlight.

Provenance

Acquired for RA Library between 1841 and 1864.

Binding Note

20th-century red calf, gilt borders on upper and lower covers, gilt-tooled spine; black morocco spine-label lettered 'Pittur Del Salon Imperiale De Palazz Di Firenze'.

Name as Subject

Subject

Paintings, Italian - Frescoes - Mural painting and decoration - Palaces - Villas - Italy - Tuscany - Florence - History - 17th century - 18th century
Rulers - Publicizing - Italy - Tuscany - Florence - History - 17th century
British - Celebrities - 17th century - 18th century
Pictorial works - 18th century

Contributors