€ 45.000

ZOCCHI, Giuseppe. Scelta di XXIV vedute delle principali contrade, piazze, chiese, e palazzi della citta di Firenze.

Florence, Giuseppe Bouchard., 1744.

Folio (595 x 410 mm.), double-page engraved allegorical title page by Johann Gottfried Seutter after, Giuseppe Magni, engraved dedication to Maria Theresa of Austria by Filippo Morghen after Zocchi, 24 double-page etched and engraved plates numbered I-XXIV, engraved by Corsi, Franceschini, Gabuggiani, Gregori, Papini, Muller, Marieschi, Monaco, Pazzi Pfeffel, Seutter, Sgrilli, Vasi, after drawings by Zocchi. Spine and corners of binding restored, a few spots and minor finger soiling. A very fine copy in contemporary Italian red morocco richly gilt, covers with wide ruled and tooled borders, centrally placed arms of the Habsburg Lorraine Grand Duke of Tuscany, spine in nine compartments, lettered in one, the others with floral tooling, gilt edges.

First edition of the superb vedutistprint series depicting 24 views of Florence based on Zocchi's drawings. This collection of urban views presents the reader with representations of palazzos such as the Pitti, Medici, Uffizi, and the Corsi; as well as the churches of Ognissanti, San Pier Maggiore, and the Annunziata. It also presents wider views of the river Arno, displaying picturesque scenes of clear waters and magnificent bridges buzzing with the activity of fishermen and tradesmen. In addition to the views there are two more plates: the dedicatory page and the title page. The latter, based on a fresco by Mannozzi, represents the river god Arno surrounded by the Graces and Roman Gods, as well as personifications of Florence, Pisa, and Siena.

Commissioned by the Márchese Andrea Gerini (1691-1766), Zocchi's drawings were published in two separate volumes: the first, Vedute Délle Ville, E D'Altri Luoghi Della Toscana, focused on Tuscan villas in the Florentine countryside, while the Scelta di XXIV vedute focused on the most famous landmarks of Florence. “These print albums are considered to be the most comprehensive record of Florentine monuments, street life, and surroundings in the eighteenth century. The publication of Vedute délie ville [and Scelta di XXIV vedute]occurred during a period of crisis in Florentine political history. After the death of the last Grand Duke Gian Gastone without an heir, in 1737 the duchy devolved, through an intricate series of treaties and complex intrigues, to a regency ultimately under imperial command. The views were published during a void in art patronage that paradoxically contributed to the modernization and renewal of Florentine art. According to the dedicatory plate, the views were intended to fill a gap of representation keenly felt by foreign visitors. But vedutismo was not entrenched in Florence in the eighteenth century, partly because after the middle of the century the city was no longer an important or fashionable place to visit (in 1786, for instance, Goethe stayed only one day).” (Millard IV)

Giuseppe Zocchi (1711-1767), a Florentine painter, draftsman, and etcher, was the protégé of Gerini, who paid for his artistic education in Rome, Bologna, and Lombardy. Although little is known of Zocchi's life, it is thought he studied painting in Venice with Jacopo Amigoni and Joseph Wagner. He was a student at the Academy in Florence, and between 1754 and 1760 he was a painter of the Bottega délie Piètre Dure, a government-supported artistic institution. Although he painted easel and mural paintings, his oeuvre is richest in drawings and prints that show a developed interest in clarity, simplicity, and inclination toward realism. The work was etched and engraved by a team of twelve international artists and engravers, headed by John Gottfried Seuter, and of which Giuseppe Vasi, Michele Marieschi, and Johann Sebastian Müller were part, while Zocchi himself engraved some of the figures present in the views. The original preparatory drawings for this series are still preserved at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, which still survive today because of the elaborate copying method employed by the etchers.

Millard IV, 170; Graesse III, 58; Brunet II, 1552.