Villa Aldobrandina Tusculana sive varij illius Hortorum et Fortium prospectus

Set of 11 plates (of 22) from the famous and rare series on the fountains of Frascati by Dominique Barriere, printed in 1647.

The work was commissioned by the Francophile amateur architect Prince Camillo Pamphili, Barrière's main patron; it is noteworthy that this commission took place long before the villa passed to the Pamphili family, with the marriage of Olympia Aldobrandini and Pamphili (1683), thus at least 5 years after Barrière's death. However, both the date 1647 in the title, and the dedication is to a very young Louis XIV - depicted on the title page - date this collection with certainty to 1647. 

In addition to the depictions of the building's exterior in precise perspectival renderings and in precise topographical settings, the plates show the gardens, the famous water-theatre, fountains and grotto. It is significant that the first of the folding plates show the villa at considerable distance, embedded in the Roman countryside; this would become common in later publications, with subsequent views getting closer and closer to the façade of the house. There is a single plate of the villa's interior, showing a sculptural group, several plates of the famous murals by Zampieri and one architectural ground plan which shows the layout of the entire property.

The Marseilles-born Barrière spent his entire working life in Rome, and prior to the arrival of Falda in Rome in 1657, is considered the leading draughtsman and printmaker of villas and gardens. His training is poorly documented, but his proficiency in rendering architectural perspective has been linked to Borromini, who chose him to engrave his Opus architectonicum, and they produced a small number of plates jointly.

List of the plates:

- Title page 230x345 mm

-  Conclave Equorum...: 230x335 mm 

- Civitatis Tuscolanae Prospectus: 400x270 mm

- Prospectus, quod Palatium atque Theatrum...: 370x240 mm

- Facis Palatijs Vespiciens Theatrum: 375x245 mm

- Prima Villa Aldobrandina Facies: 410x273 mm

- Primus Exitus Aquae...: 280x205 mm

- Alius Aquae Illapsus...: 315x215 mm

- Apollinus Conclave...: 230x335 mm

- Theatrum Fontium antè Palatium...: 510x325 mm

Bibliografia

Berlin Katalog 3490; Brunet I.667; Inventaire du fonds francais. Graveurs XVII siecle I.274-76, nos. 34-55; Robert Dusmenil III.144-165; Graesse I.298.