Buy this book on-line Gaspar van Wittel : Omnia Romanae Cedant Miracvla Terrae Natvra Hic Posvit Qvidqvid Vhiqve Fvit
Giuseppe Vasi, c.1765
Copper Engraving, Image Size : 678x979 (mm), 26.69x38.54 (Inches), Platemark Size : 685x985 (mm), 26.97x38.78 (Inches), Paper Size : 709x1015 (mm), 27.91x39.96 (Inches), Black & White, Mounted on old canvas, slightly fragile, small restoration at the lower margin, a few short marginal tears but generally good.
The Grand View of Rome published by Giuseppe Vasi in 1765 was accompanied by two large etchings having the same height as the Grand View so that they could be placed next to it to complete the decoration of a wall. These two etchings were followed in 1771 by two others having the same dimensions.
These four large etchings showed:
Campo Vaccino (1765)
La Città Leonina (The Vatican City) che si vede colla Basilica Vaticana, Ponte e Castel S. Angelo (1765)
La veduta della Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore dalla parte verso le Quattro Fontane (1771)
La veduta della Basilica di S. Paolo fuori delle Mura ed adiacenze dal Monte Aventino, e dal Fiume Tevere (1771)
The choice of Campo Vaccino and of the Vatican City as the subjects of the two 1765 etchings was consistent with the approach followed by Vasi in his ten books of etchings aimed at showing the magnificence of both ancient (Campo Vaccino) and modern (Vatican City) Rome. For the 1771 etchings Vasi chose areas of Rome which were not visible in detail in the Grand View of Rome.
Città Leonina (Leo's City) is a reference to Pope Leo IV, who first built walls to protect the basilica and the nearby area.
The lower part of the etching contains a dedication to i Signori Conservatori del Popolo Romano, the appointed officers who acted as City Council of Rome. One of the palaces in Piazza del Campidoglio is still named after them. They were the heirs of the Comune di Roma, the municipal government which at the time of Cola di Rienzo challenged the authority of the popes.
Vasi placed between the etching and the dedication a sentence from Propertius' Elegies (Book III 2.2).
This etching was most likely influenced by a painting by Gaspar van Wittel (1652-1736), a Dutch painter who spent most of his life in Rome and who became famous for his vedute (highly detailed, large-scale townscapes). His son Luigi Vanvitelli became one of the leading Italian architects of the XVIIIth century.
Gaspar van Wittel : Omnia Romanae Cedant Miracvla Terrae Natvra Hic Posvit Qvidqvid Vhiqve Fvit is listed for sale on Bibliophile Bookbase by Alexandre Antique Prints, Maps & Books.
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