Faciata della Chiesa della Madonna di Loreto

Reference: s20257
Author Giacomo LAURO
Year: 1615 ca.
Zone: Loreto
Printed: Rome
Measures: 240 x 180 mm
€350.00

Reference: s20257
Author Giacomo LAURO
Year: 1615 ca.
Zone: Loreto
Printed: Rome
Measures: 240 x 180 mm
€350.00

Description

Etching and engraving, ca. 1615/30, lacking signature and printing details.

Magnificent proof, impressed on contemporary laid paper, with margins, in perfect condition.

Anonymous, very rare depiction of the Santa Casa of Loreto, surrounded by an engraved ornamental frame, which we attribute to the hand of Giacomo Lauro for stylistic reasons and for its - occasional - presence in Lauro's collection Antiquae urbis splendor, a work of great historical and archaeological importance that the author began in 1612.

As we explain further in the similar engraving - also attributed to Lauro - of the Laooconte

https://www.antiquarius.it/en/-incisori-romani-del-xvii-secolo/13486-laocontis-statua.html

the plate may have been intended as part of the Lauro collection, but, as its great rarity shows, never then included.

The Antiquae urbis splendor by Giacomo Lauro has a long and varied history of publishing, beginning in 1612, though Lauro’s work on the book predates its publishing by at least eighteen years. The book was first printed by Giacomo Mascardi, and it originally only contained two parts, though by 1615 it had expanded to a third part. The first part contained 37 engravings, with a dedication to King Sigismund III of Poland, dated 1614, and a portrait dated 1609 (borrowed from another book of engravings). The second part contained a portrait of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, dated 1613, and 41 engravings. It is worth noting that these first two books were both dedicated to Polish nobility, probably due to the fact that Lauro had enjoyed patronage from engraving Polish battles early in his career. The third part, added later, was dedicated to Ranuccio Farnese, one of Lauro’s greater patrons later in his life, and contained 40 engravings.

The number of plates included in each of the earlier editions of Lauro’s work (printed at the Camera Apostolica in 1614 in four parts, and printed there again in 1621 in three parts) was finally settled in 1628 with the addition of the fourth and final book for a total of 166 engravings, which is the generally accepted number for how many engravings total Lauro produced for this work. The edition published by Vitale Mascardi and curated by Giovanni Alto was released in 1637. Alto added a final index and numbered each of the engravings, 2-167, for this latest release.

A very rare work. Undescribed.

Giacomo LAURO (1561-1645/50)

Engraver, printer and print publisher. Active in Rome from 1583. 17 March 1598 he applied for and was granted a ten-year papal privilege for an unspecified number of unnamed religious prints. Lauro’s earliest dated prints are of 1585, and carry the address of C. Duchetti. He also worked for Panzera in 1589. From 1590 he tried to establish himself as a publisher of his own work. He acquired and restored old plates, published copies of such classic prints as Marcantonio’ St.Paul preaching . He accepted commissions, as the map of Rocca Contrada, 1594. He probably acquired plates from Jacob Matham which he published in 1598. His Antiquae Urbis Splendor was published in parts from 1612. In the volumes issued in 1614 and 1615 Lauro refers to having worked on it for 28 years which would mean that he began it about 1586. Important connections with Poland; he specialized in images of saints.

Giacomo LAURO (1561-1645/50)

Engraver, printer and print publisher. Active in Rome from 1583. 17 March 1598 he applied for and was granted a ten-year papal privilege for an unspecified number of unnamed religious prints. Lauro’s earliest dated prints are of 1585, and carry the address of C. Duchetti. He also worked for Panzera in 1589. From 1590 he tried to establish himself as a publisher of his own work. He acquired and restored old plates, published copies of such classic prints as Marcantonio’ St.Paul preaching . He accepted commissions, as the map of Rocca Contrada, 1594. He probably acquired plates from Jacob Matham which he published in 1598. His Antiquae Urbis Splendor was published in parts from 1612. In the volumes issued in 1614 and 1615 Lauro refers to having worked on it for 28 years which would mean that he began it about 1586. Important connections with Poland; he specialized in images of saints.