Catalogo delle opere date finora alla luce da Gio. Battista Piranesi

Etching and engraving, circa 1766, signed in plate top left.

Example in the eleventh state of thirty-six described in Andrew Robison's very recent essay (March 2022) dated 1766. Compared to the previous state of the Catalogo, we find the presence, among the Vedute di Roma - now 74 - of the view of the Del Tempio di Minerva Medica Medica which was made at the end of 1766.

Only five impressions from this issue of the Catalogo, (including our example) are known to Robison. No less than two of these, including ours, are printed on the verso of Giovanni Ottaviani's engraving after Guercino, Angelica and Medoro, of which Piranesi was the publisher.

A very good impression, printed on laid paper with “double encircled fleur de lys” watermark, with margins, few small worm holes, otherwise in good condition.

A common custom among many editors in the eighteenth century was to compile and print catalogues or price lists of the graphic works they sold with the promotional intent of advertising them, uphold orders and obtain subscriptions. Piranesi did not limit himself to a common written catalogue but even published an illustrated one, better known as the engraved catalogue, which he issued for the first time in 1761. This happened in the circumstance of his moving to new premises at the Tomati Palace. The first catalogue included the list of the fifty-nine views belonging to the collection Vedute di Roma, which he had created up to then, together with an inventory of other published books that featured his prints. This catalogue was constantly updated by adding new items that were put on sale, giving rise to a number of different states, of which 36 are currently known.

The engraved catalogue is of primary importance for the dating of Piranesi's works, an essential means of study and research as the analysis of its states allows the approximate chronological classification of all of the artist's later works. When creating this work, which is correctly considered as another of his masterpieces, Piranesi focused his studies on its decorative aspects. He used the same technique that can be found in some of his books, creating a trompe-l'oeil effect on an architectural background, depicting pins which seemed to fasten a number of cartouches with titles pertaining to his works. The foreground consisted of ruins and sculptural fragments while an additional white space was included on purpose to allow for the addition of new items in the future. The items included in this catalogue are considerably rarer than Piranesi's other engraving, probably because they were printed in a smaller number, as well as for the reason that they were considered as short-lived promotional material, and therefore were not preserved. Some of these bear dedications to the artist's friends and benefactors, while, on other ones, pen-written notes enumerating the latest items, often by the artist's own hand, can be seen.

On the verso of the sheet is printed Angelica and Medoro engraved by Giorgio Ottaviani, an
etching and engraving, printed with red and black ink, 1764. Inscribed under the image “Ex Collectione Tomae Jenkins Pictoris Angli”; signed at left “Guercino da Cento inv.”, at right “Joan. Ottaviani Inc.”.

The plate belongs to the series RACCOLTA DI ALCUNI. DISEGNI DEL BARBERI DA CENTO DETTO IL GUERCINO Incisi in rame, e presentati al. singolar merito del Sig. Tommaso Jankins Pittore, ed Accademico di S. Luca, in. atto di rispetto, e d'amicizia dall' Architetto, e suo Coaccademico Gio.. Battista Piranesi. Si vendono presso il medesimo Piranesi nel Palazzo del sigr.. Conte Tomati, a Strada Felice vicino alla Trinita de' Monti.

This unusual series of engravings after drawings by Guercino, Pier Leone Ghezzi and others, is the result of an editorial initiative of Piranesi. The idea of the volume must be created by the purchase of plates that Bartolozzi performed in Venetian and Bologna collections before leaving Italy for London. Piranesi, expanding the project, added other plates that commissioned to engravers like Giovanni Ottaviani and Jacques Nevay. The work was realized in Rome translate into engravings the original drawings own by members of the Accademia of San Luca. Probably then the individual engravings were assembled on demand of the buyer, as evidenced by the fact that each collection is different from the other for number of plates. The corpus consists of the graphic engravings by Bartolozzi, which reproduce the original drawings from the collection of Joseph Smith, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and the Count Antonio Maria Zanetti.

Extremely rare example of the Piranesi’s Catalogo delle Opere.

Bibliografia

Andrew Robison, Piranesi’s Catalogo delle Opere, in The Burlington Magazine, n. 164 (2022), pp. 230-245, XI/XXXVI; H. Focillon, Giovan Battista Piranesi 1720-1778 (1918): n. 1; A. M. Hind, Giovanni Battista Piranesi. A critical study with a list of his published works and detailed catalogues of the Prisons and Views of Rome (1922): p. 6; cfr. K. Meyer-Haunton in Piranesi, Incisioni, Rami, Legature, Architetture.