Guercino (Giovanni Francesco, 1591-1666). Racolta di alcuni disegni, 1764

After Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, detto Il Guercino, 1591-1666). Racolta di alcuni disegni del Barberi da Cento, detto Il Guercino, Rome: Giovanni Generoso Salomoni, 1764, letterpress title with vignette by Ottaviani after Guercino, additional full-page etched title by G.B. Piranesi incorporating Saint Joseph resting, after Guercino (from the collection of the famous sculptor and restorer of antiquities Bartolomeo Cavaceppi), and with dedication to Thomas Jenkins of the Academy of Saint Luke, and 30 fine etchings printed in black and sanguine on 29 sheets, including 13 by Bartolozzi, 6 by Nevay, 5 by Ottaviani, 3 by Piranesi, 2 by Piroli, one by Giovanni Battista Buratto, and one very large etching by Aureliano Milani on three sheets, all printed on fine heavy laid paper (several watermarks, including a fleur-de-lys within double-rule circle, another fleur-de-lys within single-rule circle and letters M V below), wide blank margins, untrimmed, contemporary plain buff paper wrappers, some soiling and minor marks to wrappers, large oblong folio (external dimensions 580 x 790 mm, with the single leaves measuring 580 x 445 mm, and the largest, partly folded, sheet 625 x 745 mm)

(Qty: 1)

Hind, Piranesi (1922) page 86; Focillon 983-986; Wilton-Ely 1015-1018.

A magnificent series of plates in excellent original condition, principally after the works of Guercino, but including a number of additional works by or after other artists including Caravaggio, Sebastiano Ricci, Antonio Balestra and Aureliano Milani. The publication appears to have been originally planned by Piranesi when he purchased twelve etchings after Guercino from (and by) the eminent printmaker Francesco Bartolozzi in 1764, who left Italy that year for a career in London. Piranesi added further plates, including several of his own. At least one of the original drawings by Guercino after which these plates were designed came from Piranesi's own collection. The inclusion of Piranesi's etched title in addition to the printed titlepage suggests that the Raccolta was sold at Piranesi's address in the Strada Felice. The letterpress title page with the imprint of Salomoni and vignette by Ottaviani seems to have been used to present various groups of plates, but usually always including the Piranesi title and the very large folding plate by Aureliano Milani, here un-conjoined on three large sheets.

Aside from the printed title, and the additional etched title by Piranesi, this album contains 20 mostly full-page etchings after Guercino (12 by Bartolozzi, 2 by Giacomo Nevay on one leaf, 4 by Giovanni Ottaviani including two on one leaf, and 2 by Piranesi), one single-page etching by Piranesi after Pier Leoni Ghezzi, 4 etched studies of heads on one page by Nevay, a single-page etching by Piroli after Caravaggio (The Entombment of Christ), three double-size etchings by Bartolozzi after Sebastiano Ricci (Camillus rescuing Rome from Brennus), Piroli after Guercino (Vénus desolée pour la mort d'Adonis), and Giovanni Battista Buratto after Antonio Balestra (Apotheosis of Saint Ignatius of Loyola), and one very large etching of Christ Carrying the Cross by Aureliano Milani on three sheets.