Molis Aeneae quam fusili artificio Urbanus VIII…

Reference: S36085
Author Giovanni Giacomo DE ROSSI
Year: 1650 ca.
Measures: 365 x 672 mm
€400.00

Reference: S36085
Author Giovanni Giacomo DE ROSSI
Year: 1650 ca.
Measures: 365 x 672 mm
€400.00

Description

Title: Molis aeneae quam fusili artificio Urbanus VIII. Pont. Max. super S.S. Aposr. Petri et pauli : tumulum excitavit ornauiqueIoannes Laurentius Berninus Eques qui in Templo Vaticano opus perfecit hic de lineationem expressit.

Etching and engraving, 1650 circa, below in the image, at right, the publisher’address 'Gio Giacomo rossi Formi Roma alla Pace'


Good example, printed on contemporary laid paper, trimmed to the platemark and laid down on antique paper, in very good condition.

The print shows an elevation of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's baldachin, which Pope Urban VIII commissioned in 1624. The ornamentation and sculptures of the baldachin are depicted in detail. The structure is shown in perspective from the nave of the basilica. The scale of the image on the print has been indicated on the left side of the print: 'Scala palos Roma . 50.'

Giovanni Giacomo DE ROSSI (Roma 1627 - 1691)

Towards the end of the sixteenth century began the editorial activity of Antonio De Rossi, who with his sons Giuseppe the Elder and Giulio, founded the printing house that, over the next two centuries and through four generations, held the monopoly of chalcographic production in the city. The workshop had the sign “De Rossi alla Pace”. The history of the De Rossi family is characterized by internal disputes and contrasts that lead to the opening of individual printing houses in competition with each other. Giulio De Rossi's sons, Giuseppe the Younger and Giovanni Battista, nephews of Giuseppe De Rossi the Elder, had founded in 1628 their own workshop in the vicinity - at the corner of Via di Parione and Via della Pace near the church of S. Biagio della Fossa - but in 1635 Giovanni Battista in turn separated from his brother and opened a workshop in Piazza Navona, the third of the family. In 1644, after the death of Giuseppe the Younger, his brother Giovanni Battista became the most direct competitor of his uncle's workshop, the De Rossi alla Pace, now run by his widow along with their children who were then partly still minors [Sons of Giuseppe De Rossi the Elder (1560-1639) and Flaminia Fabio were Giovanni Domenico (1619-1653) Girolamo (born in 1621), Giovanni Giacomo (1627-1691) and Filippo (1631-1656)]. In 1648 Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi, son of Giuseppe, started his own activity in a workshop located “alla Pace”, with the contribution of about 800 plates inherited from his father, whose fund was divided among the four sons. At the death of his elder brother Giovanni Domenico (1653) the part of plates inherited from him was recovered by Giovanni Giacomo, who also took possession of many works of a geographical nature published by his brother. The corpus of works recovered by Giovanni Giacomo consisted of a collection that spanned a chronological span of more than a century, including part of the plates of Salamanca and Lafreri, the workshops of Adamo Scultori, Villamena, Maggi, Carenzano and many others. For the whole course of the century Giovanni Giacomo and his adopted son Domenico (1647-1729) were the point of reference of the Roman publishing industry and increased the chalcographic production of local and artistic character. In addition, in fact, to the works of Giovan Battista Falda we find in the list the engraving matrixes of painters-engravers such as Guido Reni, Giovan Benedetto Castiglione, Giovanni Andrea Podestà and Pietro Testa just to mention the main artists who relied on the De Rossi. When Domenico died in 1729, the printing house was inherited by his son Lorenzo Filippo, who immediately put it up for sale. Pope Clement XII forbade its sale abroad and ordered its appraisal with the intention of purchase by the Apostolic Chamber: the printing house was sold in March 1738 and formed the fund of the newly founded Calcografia Camerale. This act of sale is the document that witnesses the end of the De Rossi printing house, one of the most important European printing houses.

Giovanni Giacomo DE ROSSI (Roma 1627 - 1691)

Towards the end of the sixteenth century began the editorial activity of Antonio De Rossi, who with his sons Giuseppe the Elder and Giulio, founded the printing house that, over the next two centuries and through four generations, held the monopoly of chalcographic production in the city. The workshop had the sign “De Rossi alla Pace”. The history of the De Rossi family is characterized by internal disputes and contrasts that lead to the opening of individual printing houses in competition with each other. Giulio De Rossi's sons, Giuseppe the Younger and Giovanni Battista, nephews of Giuseppe De Rossi the Elder, had founded in 1628 their own workshop in the vicinity - at the corner of Via di Parione and Via della Pace near the church of S. Biagio della Fossa - but in 1635 Giovanni Battista in turn separated from his brother and opened a workshop in Piazza Navona, the third of the family. In 1644, after the death of Giuseppe the Younger, his brother Giovanni Battista became the most direct competitor of his uncle's workshop, the De Rossi alla Pace, now run by his widow along with their children who were then partly still minors [Sons of Giuseppe De Rossi the Elder (1560-1639) and Flaminia Fabio were Giovanni Domenico (1619-1653) Girolamo (born in 1621), Giovanni Giacomo (1627-1691) and Filippo (1631-1656)]. In 1648 Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi, son of Giuseppe, started his own activity in a workshop located “alla Pace”, with the contribution of about 800 plates inherited from his father, whose fund was divided among the four sons. At the death of his elder brother Giovanni Domenico (1653) the part of plates inherited from him was recovered by Giovanni Giacomo, who also took possession of many works of a geographical nature published by his brother. The corpus of works recovered by Giovanni Giacomo consisted of a collection that spanned a chronological span of more than a century, including part of the plates of Salamanca and Lafreri, the workshops of Adamo Scultori, Villamena, Maggi, Carenzano and many others. For the whole course of the century Giovanni Giacomo and his adopted son Domenico (1647-1729) were the point of reference of the Roman publishing industry and increased the chalcographic production of local and artistic character. In addition, in fact, to the works of Giovan Battista Falda we find in the list the engraving matrixes of painters-engravers such as Guido Reni, Giovan Benedetto Castiglione, Giovanni Andrea Podestà and Pietro Testa just to mention the main artists who relied on the De Rossi. When Domenico died in 1729, the printing house was inherited by his son Lorenzo Filippo, who immediately put it up for sale. Pope Clement XII forbade its sale abroad and ordered its appraisal with the intention of purchase by the Apostolic Chamber: the printing house was sold in March 1738 and formed the fund of the newly founded Calcografia Camerale. This act of sale is the document that witnesses the end of the De Rossi printing house, one of the most important European printing houses.