Pietro Camporesi (after)
Giovanni Volpato (engraver)
Frontispiece
from Loggia di Rafaele nel Vaticano
Rome: 1772-77
Etching with engraving on paper
24.75 x 19.5 inches, sheet
22.5 x 15.5 inches,image excluding text
Provenance: Dr. and Mrs. Edgar P. Richardson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.
Architectural Frontispiece
from Loggia di Rafaele nel Vaticano, 1772-77
from Loggia di Rafaele nel Vaticano, 1772-77
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This is the frontispiece to the splendid 83-plate survey of the ornamental frescoes designed by Raphael for the Vatican Loggia, an open-sided vaulted gallery. A medallion bust profile portrait of Raphael surrounded by a festooned eagle and a cupid surmounts the view. The loggia's entrance is flanked by large columns, and the Renaissance frescoed pilasters and arches are visible. Pedestrians in 18th Century dress provide a sense of scale.
As a whole, the collection of prints published as Loggia di Rafeale nel Vaticano is comprised of a series of architectural studies of walls, ceilings, arches, and doors designed by Raphael for Pope Leo X's private loggia in the Vatican. They incorporate frescoes with classical mythological images as well as renderings of biblical stories (known as "Raphael's Bible") amidst a variety of classical and grotesque ornament. In the neoclassical era of the late 18th Century, there was considerable interest in classical themes in Renaissance art. This set was intended as a source book for architects and designers, as well as a decorative picture book for Grand Tour travelers. In particular, this work stimulated interest in Renaissance grotesque ornament.
Raphael (1483-1520) is acknowledged to be one of the great European artists of the Renaissance and an accomplished architect as well. As chief archaeologist to the Pope, he was involved in the excavation of the ancient Golden House of Nero, and adapted many of the elaborate Roman frescoes he saw there in creating his own innovative painted wall and ceiling designs in the Vatican.
The prints in this set are based on renderings by the painter Gaetano Savorelli and the draughtsman Ludovico Teseo. Pietro Camporesi (1726-1781), a Roman architect who worked for Pope Clemens XIII and Pius VI on rooms for the Vatican Museum, also contributed to the work and designed the frontispiece. The prints were etched and engraved by Giovanni Ottaviani and Giovanni Volpato (1740-1803). These artists took some liberties in borrowing elements from Raphael's Vatican tapestries to fill in elements that were illegible in the original frescoes due to deterioration over time. Thus, the prints are amalgam of actual and supposed design elements of Raphael.
References:
"Raphael Invenit: Stampe da Rafaello" (1985) Volpato 1; Ottaviano 2-19 and Dorigny 37-46. Brunet IV, cf.1110 & 1111; Berlin "Kat". Cf.4068 & 4066; "Raphael: Reproduktions-graphik aus vier Jahrhunderten (Coburg 1984) p.104 & no.245; "Giovanni Volpato 1735- 1803" (Bassano del Grappa, 1988) 173.