Padua

Spectacular panoramic view of Padua designed by Friedrich Bernhard Werner (1690-1776) and printed by Georg Balthasar Probst's (1643-1748), print seller in Augsburg.

Example of the first state of two, with the imprint of Georg Balthasar Probst, not described by Ghironi Padova – Piante e vedute (1449 – 1865), which dates the printing to about 1735. The second state of the view of Padua sees an imprint by Johann Friedrich Probst (1719-1781).

"Derived from a drawing by Friedrich Bernhard Werner, the engraving, belonging to a series of more than 100 views, perhaps 137, that the Probsts printed during their publishing activity (Thieme, Becker, XXVII, 411), is a very fine depiction of the city, which would be widely taken up by cartography published, especially in Augsburg, during the 18th century. Among the features of this overview is the exaggerated verticalism of the most conspicuous city buildings, intended with the intention of providing as complete and clear an image of each of them as possible. In addition to this fact, it should be pointed out, on the one hand, the Gothic character given to many of the buildings and, on the other hand, that No. 15 in the list of place names refers erroneously to the Palazzo del Podestà, rather than to the Clock Tower, and that the subsequent No. 16 identifies the Duomo still lacking its dome, which would not be built until 1754 (Cessi, Gaudentius, 1958, 96, no. 71). Relative to dating, it must be said that, if colored, the two coats of arms outlined in the map could have offered precise clues to fix the time of copperplate engraving. In the example examined, the two coats of arms simply describe the outlines of the heraldic figures and do not have the normal spellings for identifying the various enamels. Even with these gaps, it is possible to conjecture that in the upper right corner is the coat of arms "azure with wavy band of gold" of the Soranzo family, while in the opposite corner is that "party of silver and black, with scagliione of opposite colors" of the Renier family (cf. Freschot, 1707, 213, 405). If the conjecture were confirmed by a coeval colored copy, the two noble insignia could link to the names of Giacomo Soranzo and Paolo Renier, podestà and captain of Padua in 1735, respectively. Consequently, the date of the copperplate engraving, because it is dedicated to these two governors of the city, would fall around the time of their presence in Padua.

A native of Silesia, the painter, engraver and chronicler Friedrich Bernhard Werner (Reichenan, 1680 Breslau, 1778) traveled extensively in Europe producing a considerable number of views of cities, which, once engraved, were printed and circulated in sheets as well as in collections.

In 1730 he sojourned in Italy (specifically in Mantua, Bologna, Rome, Naples, Sicily, and probably Veneto) to form his series of Italian views. Of these one block is definitely original, while the remainder are the result of reworkings of earlier drawings by various authors (Thieme, Becker, XXXV, 406). Returning to Germany, Werner passed his drawings on to Georg Balthasar Probst (Augsburg, 1673 ivi, 1748), who, having inherited the firm from his father-in-law, Jeremias Wolf (Augsburg, 1663 or 1673 ivi, 1724), had at that time an interest in securing the best works circulating in Augsburg in order to improve the quality level of his production (Thieme, Becker, XXXVI, 206).

After Georg Balthasar's demise, the publishing activity of this house continued under the direction of Johann Friedrich Probst (1719-1781), whose kinship, however, assuming there was one, is not known (Thie- me. Becker, XXVII, 411). The excudit detectable in the view of Padua indicates that its printing took place precisely in the years in which the firm was directed by Johann Friedrich, thus after 1748; a fact, however, that does not detract from the hypothesis of an elaboration of the plate around 1735" (cf. Padova – Piante e vedute (1449 – 1865), no. 67).

Copperplate engraving, margins added, slight browning due to traces of glue on verso, otherwise in excellent condition. Very rare.

Bibliografia

S. Ghironi, Padova – Piante e vedute (1449 – 1865), n. 67; Marinelli, 1881, 198, n. 962; Cessi, Gaudenzio, 1958. 96, n. 71; Mazzi, 1982, 274, n. 60