Amerigo Vespucci
Italian Engraving: 1812

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Amerigo Vespucci detail
Giuseppe Maria Testi (after)
Santi Soldaini (designer of print)
Carlo Lasinio Padre (engraver)
Amerigo Vespucci
Copperplate engraving
Livorno: 1812
18 x 13 inches overall
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.

Elaborately decorated profile portrait of the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who, as the banner at the top proclaims "bestowed his name upon a world." Vespucci is set within an oval stone frame, garlanded in laurel leaf branches, with an ocean-scape in the background, and in the foreground with various symbols of exploration including a map, navigational instruments, globe, compass, hour glass, octant, anchor, lantern. Below the image are a row of laudatory verses and a brief biography of Vespucci, all in Italian. The extravagantly worded inscriptions demonstrate the great pride Italians took in his achievements.

Print inscriptions are below. Rough translations from the Italian are provided. In some cases archaic words are used that cannot be easily translated.

Text of Banner:

Tu destil nome un mondo e quei del paro, tuo nome rende famoso e chiaro.

Four Verses:

Genio Sublime, Splendor di Flora, Che il vasto Oceano, Sfidaste un oi.
[Sublime genius, splendid flower, who the vast ocean defied.]

Alta Scoperta, Che Festi allora, Dun Mondo incognito, L'olero stupi.
[Great discovery, that was celebrated then, of a then-unknown world, (l'olero) amazed.]

Morte ne tempo La tua findora, Perenne Gloria D'oblio cuopri
[Died in your time, your (findora), perennial glory, of oblivion discovered.]

Vive immortale, Tuo nome ancora, Esempre ai posteri, Vivia cosi.
[Immortal you live, your name still and always will live on in posterity.]

Biography:

Amerigo dister Nastasio d'Amerigo Vespucci nacque in Firenze il Marzo 1451. Dotato d'un genio sublime ardi tentare le vie dell'Oceano e fece quattro viaggi all sole e Coste de quell vasto Continente, che per consenso di tutte le Nazioni fu dal suo nome chiamato America. _____. Intraprese il primo: viaggio per servizio del Re di. Spagna il di so Maggio 1497. Gli Altri per il re di Portogullo a cui scuopri il Brasiles, e vi fece costruire il primo: Forte ___ Devesi ad Amerigo l'innvenvione dell importante metodo di prendere in mare la longitudine ___. Sell'atto d'intraprendere un quinto viaggio per il Re di Spagna fu sorpreso dalla morte nel 1516, o come altri vagbono nel 1508, e fu sepolto nell' isole Ferzere restando per sempre il suo gloriosio. Neme che l'incidia e la calungia tentorono invarno di cancellare dalla memoria della grata Posterita, che lo dichiaro uno dei piu gran Navigatori , e dei pui rinomati ingegni del secoto XV.

[The biography explains that Nastasiro d'Amerigo Vespucci was born in Florence in March 1451. "Equipped with a sublime genius," he "burned" with the desire to explore the byways of the ocean and made four voyages "along the coasts of that vast continent, so that with the consent of all nations it was named America." It is said that he undertook his first voyage under the auspices of the King of Spain, on May 1497. (Later on in his life, Vespucci left behind a controversy when he said he did not in fact make that voyage.) The others were made for the King of Portugal, for whom he discovered Brazil. The biography asserts that Amerigo was an innovator in "the important method of navigating the sea using longitude." It also states that he died suddenly in 1516, and was buried in the island of Ferzere, "remaining forever glorious." (The Catholic Encyclopedia gives his date of death as 1512.) The statement concludes, "I declare him one of the great navigators, and the most renowned geniuses of the 15th Century."]

Dedication:

Al Sig Giovanni Luigi Terreni Commis Entretenu della Marina Imip: a Livorne Intendentissimo cell Arte della Pittura, ed Amatore delle Belle Arti.

[To Signor Giovanni Luigi Terreni "Commis Entretenu" from the Imperial Navy, at Livorno, Dedicated to the Art of Painting and Lover of the Fine Arts.]

Reference:

Uzielli, Gustavo trans. by Thomas M. Barrett. "Amerigo Vespucci." Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15384b.htm