(Fig. 50 da "Prospectiva Pictorum et Architectorum")

Plate taken from the PERSPECTIVA PICTORUM ET ARCHITECTORUM - PROSPETTIVA DE' PITTORI E ARCHITETTI. IN QUAE DOCETUR MODUS EXPEDITISSIMUS DELINEANDI OPTICÈ OMNIA QUE PERTINENT AD ARCHITECTURAM / IN CUI S’INSEGNA IL MODO PIÙ SBRIGATO DI METTERE IN PROSPETTIVA TUTTI I DISEGNI D’ARCHITETTURA, printed in Rome by Giacomo Komareck in 1693.

A very important treatise in the history of perspective because it was conceived for the practical use of painters and architects, with a simple and accurate exposition, helped by the use of clear illustrative tables, with increasing difficulty: the first part deals with the theory of perspective, the second is a practical guide for perspective drawing. With Pozzo, perspective returns to being an artistic subject and no longer a scientific-mathematical one as it had been dealt with in the 1600s.

The etchings are by Vincenzo Mariotti student of the author and Benoist Thieboust. The work was a huge success and there were many editions.

Andrea Pozzo, painter, architect and perspective theorist (Trento 1642 - Vienna 1709). He worked first in Milan, where he joined the Società di Gesù, then in Genoa, Venice, Emilia, Mondovi and Turin. Called to Rome in 1681, he carried out an intense activity there and completed his masterpiece: the grandiose decoration of the tribune and the vault of S. Ignatius, depicting the glory of the Saint (1685-91 ca.). By invitation of Leopold I went to Vienna in 1703 and remained there until his death.

Bibliografia

Cfr. Studi e documenti d’architettura, n. 9-10 - Riccardi, I,317-318.