Testa Quasi Colossale di Marco Aurelio - Etching by P. Fontana
By Francesco Cecchini
Located in Roma, IT
“Testa quasi colossale di Marco Aurelio” (Almost colossal head of Marco Aurelio) is a beautiful black and white burin on paper, realized by the Italian artist Pietro Fontana (Bassano Romano,1762 – Rome, 1837), after Teodoro Matteini (Pistoia, 1754 - Venice, 1831), as the inscriptions on plates on lower margins report “Teodoro Matteini delineò./ Pietro Fontana incise a bollino Roma”.
This original print is numbered on plate in Roman numerals on higher margin: “Tom II. /Tav. XXV" and is a plate from the series "Illustrazioni de'Monumenti scelti Borghesiani già esistenti nella Villa sul Pincio (..)date ora per la prima volta in luce dal cav. Gio. Gherardo De Rossi e da Stefano Piale sotto la guida di Vincenzo Feoli", by Ennio Quirino Visconti, published by Stamperia de Romanis in Rome, 1821.
This old master’s original prints shows a precious piece of the Borghese's collection, the marble bust of the Roman philosopher and writer and one of the "good Roman Emperor" (according to Edward Gibbon) Marco Aurelio, represented in neoclassical style and with the traditional iconography with a thick hair and a long beard.
In excellent conditions with a usual yellowing of the paper on the lower margin and some light signs of the time with an imperceptible weaving of the paper on the lower right corner, this wonderful burin preserved his fresh impression.
Illustrazioni de' Monumenti scelti Borghesiani
This collection in two volumes is a beautifully detailed catalog of classical sculptures collected by Prince Borghese (1730-1800) in his Villa on the Pincio. Ennio Quirino Visconti (1751 - 1818) wrote the texts that accompany the large branches depicting. To these writings, which were available by the son of the illustrious archaeologist, the publishers added only a few illustrations relating to some minor monument of which copper had already been engraved.
The engraved title-plate are signed by draughtsmen like Agostino Tofanelli, Stefano Tofanelli, Bernardino Nocchi, Domenico de Angelis or Teodoro Matteini, and by engravers Pietro Fontana Veneto, P. Vitali, Pietro Bettelini, Giovanni Folo Veneto, Giovanni Brunetti da Ravenna, Giovanni Ottaviani, Francesco Cecchini, Gio. Batta. Leonetti, Girolamo Carattoni, Domenico Cunego, Luigi Cunego, Alessandro Mochetti, Luigi Pizzi, Angelo Campanella or Giacomo Bossi.
The Volume I shows ancient full-length statues, of the Borghese warrior by Agasias (two plates), Greek gods and heroes and Roman famous historical figures; the last two plates represents antique Egyptian deities. There are plates representing ancient bas-reliefs, sarcophagi, of mythological subjects, the Borghese Vase, portrait busts, a vase on an altar, two statues of Amor; and two modern statues, by Bernini (the Apollo and Daphne, and the David).
«Très bel ouvrage» writes Brunet, «Grand ouvrage, le seul qui mérite, parmi ceux sur la villa Borgese, de figurer dans le chapitre aux Galeries et Collections» Vinet said, looking at this plate.
Pietro Fontana (Bassano Romano,1762 – Rome, 1837)
The Italian artist and engraver, Pietro Fontana was active in Rome and specialized in subjects dealing with the Vatican and the Papacy. He started his career as a student of Raffaello Morghen...
Category
Old Masters 1820s Art
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