Veduta della Trinità de' Monti
| Reference: | S45833 |
| Author | Agostino PENNA |
| Year: | 1827 |
| Zone: | Trinità dei Monti |
| Measures: | 580 x 430 mm |
€900.00
| Reference: | S45833 |
| Author | Agostino PENNA |
| Year: | 1827 |
| Zone: | Trinità dei Monti |
| Measures: | 580 x 430 mm |
€900.00
Description
Etching, 1827, signed and dated on lower plate.
It belongs to the very rare series Vedute pittoriche de' monumenti antichi e moderni di Roma, published from 1827 until 1830.
Agostino Penna (1807-1881), although he cannot be ascribed among the leading figures of the Roman art scene of the first half of the 19th century-particularly in the field of vedutismo, over which the figure of Luigi Rossini dominates almost unchallenged-his grafic work, on the whole quantitatively rather meager, nevertheless presents elements of undoubted originality. Penna was, above all, a full participant in the climate of renewal of archaeological studies in the Rome of Carlo Fea and Antonio Nibby, coinciding with the many excavations and restorations of antiquities in the 1920s and 1930s.
The series of prints Vedute pittoriche de' monumenti antichi e moderni di Roma saw the light of day thanks to the subscription of a group of associates whose names are unfortunately unknown, but which must have included affermati artists as well: of every single issue the "Diario di Roma" gives punctual feedback (in only two cases do the announcements appear in the contemporary "Notizie del giorno"), an exceptional fact, since Penna figures as the only engraver whose production is given such wide prominence and with such frequency by the Roman periodical.
Inevitable is the comparison with the contemporary images of Rome that the prolific Luigi Rossini continued to publish concrescently successful. Penna seems to want to create for himself an original style and construction of the view, seeking novel viewpoints and cuts to distinguish his grafic work from that of the Ravenna architect.
“La prima stampa che apre la serie dei Monumenti antichi e moderni di Roma è la Veduta della Trinità dei Monti, così descritta nel “Diario di Roma” del 4 aprile 1827: È uscito il primo foglio della serie delle Vedute pittoriche de’ monumenti antichi e moderni di Roma, incise in rame da Agostino Penna. L’accennato primo foglio rappresenta la chiesa della SSma Trinità dei Monti colla vista di Monte Mario. Esso sarà seguito dall’altro che rappresenta la Mole Adriana, ossia il Forte Sant’Angelo; e così successivamente verranno pubblicandosi gli ulteriori fogli, a norma del manifesto già diramato dallo stesso valente Incisore, che da bel principio ha fatto conoscere al Pubblico quanta premura egli abbia di corrispondere alle sue promesse e di eseguire le incisioni con tutta la sua perizia. Penna esordisce con una veduta della chiesa della Trinità dei Monti con lo sfondo di Villa Medici inquadrata dal termine della via Felice, oggi Sistina, con un effetto simile a quello che prova tutt’oggi chi giunge sulla sommità del Pincio con l’improvvisa, ariosa apertura sulla parte settentrionale della città. L’immediatezza dello studio dal vero si coglie nella capacità di registrare gli effetti della luce del mattino e i dettagli naturalistici e architettonici; il punto di vista scelto non costituisce una novità, ritrovandosi tale e quale, ad esempio, in un noto dipinto del 1808 di François Granet (1775-1849) oggi al Louvre (RF 1981-12), praticamente sovrapponibile, per impaginazione e trattamento delle luci, al disegno di Penna, dove identiche sono persino le ombre proiettate dagli edifici, segno evidente che quel punto di vista e quelle ore anti-meridiane erano ormai divenuti canonici tra i vedutisti del tempo, incluso ad esempio Antonio Acquaroni (?-1874), autore di un’incisione acquerellata di identico taglio. I personaggi raffigurati nel disegno di Penna non corrispondono a quelli della stampa, realizzati sicuramente da altro mano, una delega piuttosto diffusa tra gli architetti-vedutisti del tempo: lo stesso Luigi Rossini si avvaleva della collaborazione di Bartolomeo Pinelli in veste di figurista ed è quindi ipotizzabile che anche Penna potesse essersi rivolto a lui per alcune stampe, come mi sembra rilevabile in particolare nell’incisione con il Portico d’Ottavia; si potrebbe ipotizzare anche una possibile collaborazione con il figlio di Bartolomeo, Achille, all’epoca vicino di casa di Penna, sulla cui biografia restano ancora molti vuoti da colmare. Nell’incisione compare in basso a sinistra la scritta “dis. da presso la natura”, che rimanda alla pratica degli studi d’après nature che aveva sostanziato l’opera di molti pittori di fine secolo, tra cui Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. Questa iscrizione, nella sua variante “disegnò dal vero”, compare in tutta l’opera grafica di Penna, anche se viene spontaneo domandarsi se questi disegni di grande formato, così pazientemente rifiniti, possano essere stati realmente disegnati dal vero” (cfr. Racioppi, Disegni di vedute e antichità di Roma di Agostino Penna (1807-1881) incisore e archeologo romano, pp. 294-295).
Beautiful proof, printed on contemporary paper, in very good condition. Very rare work.
Bibliografia
Pier Paolo Racioppi, Disegni di vedute e antichità di Roma di Agostino Penna (1807-1881) incisore e archeologo romano, in "Studi sul Settecento Romano", 31, 2015, a cura di E. Debenedetti.
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Penna was born in Rome on December 21, 1807, and lived, fintil he was over 30, in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in an apartment on Via di San Paolo Primo Eremita, together with his father, who had been widowed, and his three younger brothers Luigi, Stefano, and Camillo. He likely had to learn the art of engraving from his father, who does not appear to have had his own studio separate from the dwelling; the latter was, however, located near the Quattro Fontane, not far from Piazza Barberini, an area with a notable concentration of artists' and sculptors' studios, a destination for tourists in search of works to buy, such as statues, paintings, prints and souvenirs.
There is no information on how and where Penna had learned the principles of drawing, and in particular architectural drawing, but it is a fact that, not yet 20 years old, he came into the limelight with a series of small-format views devoted to Roman antiquities, under the title Raccolta di dodici Vedute antiche di Roma disegnate ed incise alla pittorica da Agostino Penna in the year 1827 on commission from the Calcografia Camerale.
Also in 1827 Penna began to produce a series of engravings, in a larger format this time, with views of ancient and modern Rome, very well publicized by the "Diario di Roma": the work was undertaken by subscription with the contribution of a "copious number of the principal artists who associated themselves." The years between the third and fourth decades of the nineteenth century were undoubtedly the most prolific, and his name appears on several occasions in the lists of professional businesses under the heading Copperplate Engravers; Penna's studio appears to have been located initially at Via delle Quattro Fontane 49 and later at Via dei Chiavari, where he resided.
From the 1840s his activity as an engraver seems to begin to thin out, probably limiting himself only to the translation into print of others' inventions, as in the case of the large engraving of the Panorama of Rome (1846) based on a drawing by Wilhelm Friedrich Gmelin(1760-1820) begun to be engraved by Wilhelm Noack (1800-1833) around 1830 but left unfinished. He had to begin from this time onwards to engage almost exclusively in the business of a print dealer and corresponding agent for the sale of foreign periodicals. Penna died on November 7, 1881, and the funeral was officiato in the church of his parish, San Carlo ai Catinari: in the parish book of deceased he is recorded as "Penna Don Augustinus Romanus," a sign that the elderly artist must have enjoyed a considerable reputation at the time.
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Penna was born in Rome on December 21, 1807, and lived, fintil he was over 30, in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in an apartment on Via di San Paolo Primo Eremita, together with his father, who had been widowed, and his three younger brothers Luigi, Stefano, and Camillo. He likely had to learn the art of engraving from his father, who does not appear to have had his own studio separate from the dwelling; the latter was, however, located near the Quattro Fontane, not far from Piazza Barberini, an area with a notable concentration of artists' and sculptors' studios, a destination for tourists in search of works to buy, such as statues, paintings, prints and souvenirs.
There is no information on how and where Penna had learned the principles of drawing, and in particular architectural drawing, but it is a fact that, not yet 20 years old, he came into the limelight with a series of small-format views devoted to Roman antiquities, under the title Raccolta di dodici Vedute antiche di Roma disegnate ed incise alla pittorica da Agostino Penna in the year 1827 on commission from the Calcografia Camerale.
Also in 1827 Penna began to produce a series of engravings, in a larger format this time, with views of ancient and modern Rome, very well publicized by the "Diario di Roma": the work was undertaken by subscription with the contribution of a "copious number of the principal artists who associated themselves." The years between the third and fourth decades of the nineteenth century were undoubtedly the most prolific, and his name appears on several occasions in the lists of professional businesses under the heading Copperplate Engravers; Penna's studio appears to have been located initially at Via delle Quattro Fontane 49 and later at Via dei Chiavari, where he resided.
From the 1840s his activity as an engraver seems to begin to thin out, probably limiting himself only to the translation into print of others' inventions, as in the case of the large engraving of the Panorama of Rome (1846) based on a drawing by Wilhelm Friedrich Gmelin(1760-1820) begun to be engraved by Wilhelm Noack (1800-1833) around 1830 but left unfinished. He had to begin from this time onwards to engage almost exclusively in the business of a print dealer and corresponding agent for the sale of foreign periodicals. Penna died on November 7, 1881, and the funeral was officiato in the church of his parish, San Carlo ai Catinari: in the parish book of deceased he is recorded as "Penna Don Augustinus Romanus," a sign that the elderly artist must have enjoyed a considerable reputation at the time.
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