Giovanni Ottaviani Wall Decorations

"4 copper plate engravings with later hand coloring """"Loggie di Raffaelo nel Vaticano"""" by Giovanni Ottaviani (1735-1808) after drawings by Pietro Camporesi (1726-81) and Gaetano...

An extremely rare and complete set of all thirteen engravings of the old testament frescoes painted by Raphael in a loggia at the Vatican only two years before he died in 1520. Raphael undertook a monumental commission for Pope Leo X: a vaulted arcade within the private apartments of the Vatican. Inspired by recent excavations in Pompeii and the Campagna, Raphael covered the Loggia’s walls and ceilings with painted ornament in the antique style. Like Leonardo and Michelangelo, Raphael was inspired by the rebirth of classical art and learning that characterized the Renaissance. For the Loggia, he created a fascinating mixture of formal and “grotesque” elements (“Grotteschi” were subterranean grottos which the Romans painted as their fancy dictated: shells entwined with beasts, history combined with mythology). The Loggia became known as “Raphael’s Bible,” not only for its Biblical paintings but also for its decorative invention. The engravings of Raphael’s Loggia were published in three bound volumes two and a half centuries later in Rome (1772-1777). There were 13 engravings in Volume I ( issued in 1772) and fourteen engravings in Volumes II and IIi ( issued in (1772-1777) . This collection represents Volume I. One of the most luxurious engraved projects of the 18th century, Le Loggie di Raffaello was the first to reproduce the great frescoes by Raphael and his pupils in the Vatican. It was the result of a collaboration between the painter Gaetano Savorelli, the architect Pietro Camporesi and the engravers Giovanni Ottaviani and Giovanni Volpato, all of whom took active interest in preserving for posterity and making available to contemporaries the splendors of the Vatican. Under the patronage of Pope Clement XIV, this gifted team of artists set out to copy not merely Raphael’s biblical pictures but their wonderful ornamental surrounds, rich in pattern and groteschi. The magnificent engravings that resulted from their collaboration are extraordinarily faithful to Raphael’s originals, even more so because they were hand-colored using gouache, a thicker and more opaque pigment than the more common watercolor that was used to color prints. Vivid and sumptuous, these large-scale works are among the most magnificent engravings to have originated in the 18th century. Beyond their purpose as records of Raphael’s frescoes, these splendid engravings served as inspiration for generations of Neo-Classical artists and designers. Please note that due to Image number restrictions, it was not possible to show all of the engravings and respective close ups. Each of the engravings depicts an important episode found in the Old Testament. The episodes consist of: The Dreams Interpreted,” Bay VII Scene 1, Copperplate Engraving with Gouache, 1770. The seventh bay represents the adventurous life of Joseph. In “The Dreams Interpreted,” Joseph describes his childhood vision to his bothers, who then decide to sell him as a slave to a caravan of merchants. The remaining scenes in the bay are “Joseph Sold by His Brothers,” “Joseph “ “God Appears to Isaac,” Bay V Scene 1, Copperplate Engraving with Gouache, 1770. The story of Isaac is the main subject in the fifth bay. “God Appears to Isaac” is the first scene, in which God assures Isaac that he will indeed have descendants. The rest of the scenes in this bay include “Isaac and Rebekah Spied on by Abimelech,” “Isaac Blesses Jacob,” and finally “Isaac and Esau.” The Judgment of Solomon,” Bay XII Scene 2, Copperplate Engraving with Gouache, 1770. The twelfth bay shows the story of Solomon, a peaceful and wise king. The bay begins with “The Consecration of Solomon,” which is followed by “The Judgement of Solomon.” This scene illustrates the link between inherent justice and his kingship. The bay concludes with “The Building of the Temple,” and “Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.” “Jacob’s Dream...

These three copperplate engravings on paper engraved by Giovanni Ottaviani (Rome 1735-1808) after the designs of the painter Gaetano Savorelli and of the architect Pietro Camporesi , are hand-finished with watercolor and gouache painting and date back to neoclassical period with a formal sense of the Renaissance style. These engravings are the plate II, VIII and XIII of the original 16th century frescoes painted by Raffaello on the main storey of Pope’s private apartments in Vatican. In 1518 Pope Leo X commissioned Raphael for a master work that remains unparalleled in artistic decorative and architectural history: to decorate with frescoes the walls, ceilings, vaulted arcade(loggia), arches and doors of his private apartments of the Vatican. The idea of creating a work divided into three parts that reproduced, in "imperial" sheets engraved and colored with the watercolor, the complete series of all the original painted decorations of the Vatican Loggias...