Category: Italian

Beautiful plates from a deluxe illustrated atlas published in 1939 as an advance prospectus showcasing the architecture of the Esposizione Universale di Roma, the world’s fair planned for 1942. Printed in 1939 by the Milan firm Arti Grafiche Pizzi & Pizo. Images taken from the website of Martayan Lan Rare Books, New York.

Image 1 of 8. Image © 2020 Martayan Lan.  Fair use license. via https://www.martayanlan.com/pages/books/5847/vittorio-cini/esposizione-universale-di-roma-mcmxlii-xx-e-f
Image 2 of 8. Image © 2020 Martayan Lan.  Fair use license. via https://www.martayanlan.com/pages/books/5847/vittorio-cini/esposizione-universale-di-roma-mcmxlii-xx-e-f
Image 5 0f 8. Image © 2020 Martayan Lan.  Fair use license. via https://www.martayanlan.com/pages/books/5847/vittorio-cini/esposizione-universale-di-roma-mcmxlii-xx-e-f

Futurist art by Italian artist Alessandro Bruschetti (1910-1980) who was the second most important Futurist painter from the Umbria region of Italy.

“Paesaggio Umbro.” Undated. Italian. Oil and board. Signed and dated signed and dated “A Bruschetti. XIII” on the lower right.  © Estate of the artist. Image  © Bonhams 2001-2020. Fair use license. via https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25980/lot/22/?category=list&length=12&page=2
“Aereoveduta del fiume.” 1932. Italian. Oil on canvas. © Estate of the artist. Image ©2020 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. Fair use license. via http://www.artnet.com/artists/alessandro-bruschetti/aereoveduta-del-fiume-YsQDmREy7sMpMghpB-BhFQ2
“Virate sul lago.” 1932. Oil on canvas. © Estate of the artist. Image ©2020 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. Fair use license. via http://www.artnet.com/artists/alessandro-bruschetti/virate-sul-lago-O-LjYP58nvltzx2ecG9SxA2

Imagery of the ruins of the Nymphaeum of Alexander Severus (‘Temple of Minerva Medica’). So very worth a visit for artists making that all important trip to Italy back around 1800.

“Rome: The Ruined Nymphaeum of Alexander Severus (‘Temple of Minerva Medica’)” ca. 1796. British. Watercolor on paper. Collaboration of Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) who did the pencil work which was presumably copied from a sketch by John Robert Cozens (1752–1797). Watercolor by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851). Inscribed by Thomas Girtin in pencil “Minerva Medica.” Not stamped. Collections of the Tate Galleries. Cc0 License 3.0. via https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-girtin-rome-the-ruined-nymphaeum-of-alexander-severus-temple-of-minerva-medica-d36565

“Temple of Minerva Medica.” 1826. French. Oil on canvas. Camille Corot, artist (1796-1875). Collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Angers, Angers. In the public domain due to age. via https://www.wikiart.org/en/camille-corot/temple-of-minerva-medica-1826
 “Imaginary View of the Temple of Minerva Medica.” 1660-1681. Oil on canvas. Attributed to Niccolò Codazzi (1642-1693) and Jacob De Heusch (1656 (baptized) -1701). Collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux. In the public domain in the United States because the artists have been dead over 100 years. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niccol%C3%B2_Codazzi_and_Jacob_de_Heusch_-_Imaginary_View_of_the_Temple_of_Minerva_Medica.jpg
“Aqueduct V, Castellum Aquae, rebuilt by Alexander Severus, A.D. 225, called also a Nymphaeum, where the trophies of Marius were hung.” 1857-1870. Albumen print on card. Carlo Baldassarre Simelli (fl. 1857-1870)) photographer. Title taken from  “Historical photographs : a catalogue of three thousand three hundred photographs of antiquities in Rome and Italy, prepared under the direction of John Henry Parker.” which was published in London in 1879. Image © 2009-2020 British School at Rome. Fair use license. via http://www.bsrdigitalcollections.it/details.aspx?ID=0016569

Hand-fans painted with Mount Vesuvius mostly in eruption, a little souvenir something to take home to your girl when you made a Grand Tour in Europe at mid century, the 19th century, that is.

Hand-fan painted with a depiction of an erupting Mount Vesuvius and the harbor at Naples. ca. 1790. Italian. Silk or possibly chicken skin folded leaf with gilded black lacquer wood sticks. Maker not known. Image © The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. Fair use license. via https://emuseum.ringling.org/emuseum/objects/13782/fan?ctx=29b65bbe-17ca-47d8-b762-6c693263b1c5&idx=98
Fan depicting the the eruption of Mount Vesuvius over Pompeii in AD 79. ca. 1825. French. Hand-painted parchment, ivory, gilt brass and rhinestones. Maker not known. Part of the exhibit “A Graceful Gift: Fans from the Mona Lee Nesseth Collection” held at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum and Galleries, Los Angeles. Image © Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum and Galleries. Fair use license. via https://blog.fidmmuseum.org/museum/2016/06/women-are-armed-with-fans.html
Hand fan with a depiction of Mount Vesuvius and the harbor at Naples. Chicken skin leaf with twelve tortoiseshell sticks and guards inlaid with red gold foliage on the sticks and foliage and urns on the guards. Reverse painted in the style of Greek vases with Bacchus on a leopard in the center surrounded by bacchantes and maenads in terracotta orange against black. Terracotta orange, black and cream border, inscribed “Figure estratte da un Vaso Etrusco”, ca. 1790-1800. Italian. Francesco Petilli, maker. Image © Glasgow Museums. Fair use license. via http://collections.glasgowmuseums.com/mwebcgi/mweb?request=record;id=196043;type=101

Millefiore glass from the glasshouse of Bernard Perrot (Bernardo Perrotto) which was located in Orléans, France. Perrot was an Italian glassmaker working in France with a career that ran roughly from 1680 until his death in 1709. Along with the Orléans glasshouse he also had a retail shop there and another one in Paris.

Millefiore shaft. 17th c. French/Italian. Created at the Glasshouse of Bernard Perrot with Venetian elements. Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In the public domain. via https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/186332
Millefiore knife handles with an assortment of composite canes including several of the Maltese Cross, on a ground of scrambled lengths of colorful filigree and ribbon, mounted with later steel blades. 1650-1700. French. Glass. Maker’s marks: Knife blades marked for John Dobby, Wych Street, Strand. Image © Bonhams 2001-2020. Fair use license. via https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26314/lot/88/?category=list&length=236&page=1

Ancient Egyptians living forever on the walls of tombs. Stare at them long enough and you’ll think you are sitting under a palm tree staring at a pyramid. Plates from Giovanni Battista Belzoni’s 1821 work “Voyages En Égypte Et En Nubie”. Collections of the Heidelberg University Library.

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“From the Tomb of the Kings at Thebes, Discovered by G. Belzoni.” Plate 6, image 11. Collections of and digitalized by Heidelberg University Library. Cc0 License 4.0. via https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/belzoni1821bd3/0011/image

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“From the Tomb of the Kings at Thebes, Discovered by G. Belzoni.” Plate 7, image 12. Collections of and digitalized by the Heidelberg University Library. Cc0 License. 4.0. via https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/belzoni1821bd3/0012/image

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Plate 3, Image 9. Collections of and digitalized by the Heidelberg University Library. Cc0 License 4.0. via https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/belzoni1821bd3/0009/image

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“From the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, Discovered by G. Belzoni.” Plate 8, image 13. Collections of and digitalized by the Heidelberg University Library. Cc0 License 4.0. via https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/belzoni1821bd3/0013/image

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“From the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, Discovered by G. Belzoni.” Plate and image 19. Collections of and digitalized by the Heidelberg University Library. Cc0 License 4.0. via https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/belzoni1821bd3/0019/image

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“From the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, Discovered by G. Belzoni.” Plate and image 17. Collections of and digitalized by the Heidelberg University Library. Cc0 License 4.0. via https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/belzoni1821bd3/0017/image

Images from the “Erbario”, an herbal created in northern Italy. Begun in the early 15th century, there are over 70 spread over 100 folios. Collections of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania. via publicdomainreview.org

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Image 28. Collections of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania. Image in the public domain due to age. via https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/erbario-15th-century-herbal

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“Bonafacia.” Image 2. Collections of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania. Image in the public domain due to age. via https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/erbario-15th-century-herbal

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Image 5. Collections of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania. Image in the public domain due to age. via https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/erbario-15th-century-herbal

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Image 12. Collections of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania. Image in the public domain due to age. via https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/erbario-15th-century-herbal

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Image 21. Collections of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania. Image in the public domain due to age. via https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/erbario-15th-century-herbal

See more here https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/erbario-15th-century-herbal where they also have a link to look at all of them in the University of Pennsylvania digital archives

Putti having fun playing with their friends. Italian. Vincenzo Bisogno, artist (born in 1866).

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A frieze of putti playing musical instruments. No date. Gouache. Signed “V. Bisogno” on the lower right. Image © Bonhams 2001-2020. Fair use license. via https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21839/lot/168/

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A frieze of putti driving a chariot. No date. Gouache. Signed “V. Bisogno” on the lower right. Image © Bonhams 2001-2020. Fair use license. via https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21839/lot/168/

People on the island of Domenica in the West Indies out and about. Agostino Brunias, artist. (ca. 1730-1796). An Italian artist based in London, he left England at the height of his career to chronicle Dominica and the neighboring islands of the West Indies.

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“Free Women of Color with their Children and Servants in a Landscape.” ca. 1764. Collections of the Brooklyn Museum. In the public domain in the United States because the artist has been dead over 70 years. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agostino_Brunias_-_Free_Women_of_Color_with_their_Children_and_Servants_in_a_Landscape_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

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“Linen Market, Dominica.” ca. 1780. Oil on canvas. Collections of the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. In the public domain in the United States because the artist has been dead over 70 years. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agostino_Brunias_-_Linen_Market,_Dominica_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

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“A Negroes’ (sic) Dance in the Island of Dominica, Fort Young beyond.” 18th c. Oil on canvas. Image © CHRISTIE’S 2020. Fair use license. via https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/augustin-brunias-1730-1796-a-negroes-dance-in-6047915-details.aspx

Paintings of Rome’s Villa Borghese. Various artists. All lovely. One from the 17th century, the other 2 from the 19th.

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“View of the Villa Borghese.” 1636. Signed and dated “Jo Wilhelm Bavr Fecit 1636.” Johann Wilhelm Bauer, artist who was born in Strasbourg, worked in Italy and then moved to Austria. May have been executed for Marcantonio Borghese. Image 2017 © Copyright Galleria Borghese. Fair use license. via https://www.galleriaborgheseticket.it/portfolio-items/view-of-the-villa-borghese/

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“Promenade à la Villa Borghese, Rome.” 19th c. Italian. Watercolor on paper. Signed on the lower right. Ippolito Caffi, artist (1809-1866). Image © 2020 Sotheby’s. Fair use license. via https://www.sothebys.com/es/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/voyage-rome-particuliere-italienne-pf1640/lot.163.html

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“The Casa del Portinaio in the Villa Borghese.” 1821. Norwegian. Oil on canvas. Inscribed “Villa Borghese JDahl Rom d. 14 Juni 1821.” Johan Christian Dahl, artist (1788-1857). Collections of the KODE Art museums and composer homes. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 70 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johan_Christian_Dahl_-_The_Casa_del_Portinaio_in_the_Villa_Borghese_-_Villa_Borghese_-_KODE_Art_Museums_and_Compos