Dissegno del Campo Cattolico Sotto Casale
| Reference: | S39317 |
| Author | Giuseppe DE ROSSI |
| Year: | 1628 |
| Zone: | Casale Monferrato |
| Printed: | Rome |
| Measures: | 245 x 313 mm |
€1,100.00
| Reference: | S39317 |
| Author | Giuseppe DE ROSSI |
| Year: | 1628 |
| Zone: | Casale Monferrato |
| Printed: | Rome |
| Measures: | 245 x 313 mm |
€1,100.00
Description
DISSEGNO DEL CAMPO / CATTOLICO SOTTO CASALE / Alli i8 Aprile i628.
A middle to high oblique view of the Spanish and Italian siegeworks and encampments as at 18 April 1628 in the early stages of the first siege of Casale Monferrato, 28 March 1628-16 March 1629. War of the Mantuan Succession (1628-1631); part of the Thirty Years War (1618-48). Oriented with west-south-west to top.
This is a very rare broad-sheet, created to document the first siege of the city in 1628. It was published in Milan and Rome by Giuseppe de' Rossi (1560-1639), bottom right, below print at the end of the key: Stampato in Milano e ristampato / in Roma per Gioseppe de Rossi / con licentia delli Superiori.
The fortress of Casale Monferrato commanded a strong strategic position on the northern edge of the alpine region, where the Po created a gap in the mountain range bordering on the Lombardy plain. It became a pivotal target in the War of the Mantuan Sucession which had broken out amongst rival claimants to the Gonzaga family’s Dukedom of Mantua, the direct male line of which had become extinct in December 1627. It was held in 1628 by Italians for the French-born claimant, Charles di Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, whose rival claimant was Ferrante II Gonzaga (1563-5 August 1630), the Duke of Guastala, backed by the Holy Roman Empire.
The first siege by the Spanish army, commanded by Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the governor of Milan was abandoned by them after a year when the French crossed the Alps in force, occupying the town and fortress with five regiments of foot and six cavalry companies under the command of Jean Caylar d’Anduze de Saint-Bonnet, Marquis de Toiras (1585-1636) whose coat of arms are top centre of this view. Toiras, the ‘hero of the resistance to the English on the Île de Ré’ in 1627 (see 722025) was present at both sieges and his success there and elsewhere was rewarded with the appointment of maréchal de France in 1630.
The second Spanish siege was entrusted to the command of Ambrosio Spinola who died during the negotiations following the capitulation of the town (though the citadel held out). The Succession finally fell to the Duke of Nevers.
Etching and engraving, printed on contemporary laid paper, trimmed to copperplate, minimal oxidation, perfectly executed restorations to lower and upper right corners, otherwise in very good condition.
Very rare work.
Bibliografia
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2874.
Giuseppe DE ROSSI (Roma 1560 - 1639)
|
Towards the end of the sixteenth century began the editorial activity of Antonio De Rossi, who with his sons Giuseppe the Elder and Giulio, founded the printing house that, over the next two centuries and through four generations, held the monopoly of chalcographic production in the city. The workshop had the sign “De Rossi alla Pace”. The history of the De Rossi family is characterized by internal disputes and contrasts that lead to the opening of individual printing houses in competition with each other. Giulio De Rossi's sons, Giuseppe the Younger and Giovanni Battista, nephews of Giuseppe De Rossi the Elder, had founded in 1628 their own workshop in the vicinity - at the corner of Via di Parione and Via della Pace near the church of S. Biagio della Fossa - but in 1635 Giovanni Battista in turn separated from his brother and opened a workshop in Piazza Navona, the third of the family. In 1644, after the death of Giuseppe the Younger, his brother Giovanni Battista became the most direct competitor of his uncle's workshop, the De Rossi alla Pace, now run by his widow along with their children who were then partly still minors [Sons of Giuseppe De Rossi the Elder (1560-1639) and Flaminia Fabio were Giovanni Domenico (1619-1653) Girolamo (born in 1621), Giovanni Giacomo (1627-1691) and Filippo (1631-1656)]. In 1648 Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi, son of Giuseppe, started his own activity in a workshop located “alla Pace”, with the contribution of about 800 plates inherited from his father, whose fund was divided among the four sons. At the death of his elder brother Giovanni Domenico (1653) the part of plates inherited from him was recovered by Giovanni Giacomo, who also took possession of many works of a geographical nature published by his brother. The corpus of works recovered by Giovanni Giacomo consisted of a collection that spanned a chronological span of more than a century, including part of the plates of Salamanca and Lafreri, the workshops of Adamo Scultori, Villamena, Maggi, Carenzano and many others. For the whole course of the century Giovanni Giacomo and his adopted son Domenico (1647-1729) were the point of reference of the Roman publishing industry and increased the chalcographic production of local and artistic character. In addition, in fact, to the works of Giovan Battista Falda we find in the list the engraving matrixes of painters-engravers such as Guido Reni, Giovan Benedetto Castiglione, Giovanni Andrea Podestà and Pietro Testa just to mention the main artists who relied on the De Rossi. When Domenico died in 1729, the printing house was inherited by his son Lorenzo Filippo, who immediately put it up for sale. Pope Clement XII forbade its sale abroad and ordered its appraisal with the intention of purchase by the Apostolic Chamber: the printing house was sold in March 1738 and formed the fund of the newly founded Calcografia Camerale. This act of sale is the document that witnesses the end of the De Rossi printing house, one of the most important European printing houses.
|
Giuseppe DE ROSSI (Roma 1560 - 1639)
|
Towards the end of the sixteenth century began the editorial activity of Antonio De Rossi, who with his sons Giuseppe the Elder and Giulio, founded the printing house that, over the next two centuries and through four generations, held the monopoly of chalcographic production in the city. The workshop had the sign “De Rossi alla Pace”. The history of the De Rossi family is characterized by internal disputes and contrasts that lead to the opening of individual printing houses in competition with each other. Giulio De Rossi's sons, Giuseppe the Younger and Giovanni Battista, nephews of Giuseppe De Rossi the Elder, had founded in 1628 their own workshop in the vicinity - at the corner of Via di Parione and Via della Pace near the church of S. Biagio della Fossa - but in 1635 Giovanni Battista in turn separated from his brother and opened a workshop in Piazza Navona, the third of the family. In 1644, after the death of Giuseppe the Younger, his brother Giovanni Battista became the most direct competitor of his uncle's workshop, the De Rossi alla Pace, now run by his widow along with their children who were then partly still minors [Sons of Giuseppe De Rossi the Elder (1560-1639) and Flaminia Fabio were Giovanni Domenico (1619-1653) Girolamo (born in 1621), Giovanni Giacomo (1627-1691) and Filippo (1631-1656)]. In 1648 Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi, son of Giuseppe, started his own activity in a workshop located “alla Pace”, with the contribution of about 800 plates inherited from his father, whose fund was divided among the four sons. At the death of his elder brother Giovanni Domenico (1653) the part of plates inherited from him was recovered by Giovanni Giacomo, who also took possession of many works of a geographical nature published by his brother. The corpus of works recovered by Giovanni Giacomo consisted of a collection that spanned a chronological span of more than a century, including part of the plates of Salamanca and Lafreri, the workshops of Adamo Scultori, Villamena, Maggi, Carenzano and many others. For the whole course of the century Giovanni Giacomo and his adopted son Domenico (1647-1729) were the point of reference of the Roman publishing industry and increased the chalcographic production of local and artistic character. In addition, in fact, to the works of Giovan Battista Falda we find in the list the engraving matrixes of painters-engravers such as Guido Reni, Giovan Benedetto Castiglione, Giovanni Andrea Podestà and Pietro Testa just to mention the main artists who relied on the De Rossi. When Domenico died in 1729, the printing house was inherited by his son Lorenzo Filippo, who immediately put it up for sale. Pope Clement XII forbade its sale abroad and ordered its appraisal with the intention of purchase by the Apostolic Chamber: the printing house was sold in March 1738 and formed the fund of the newly founded Calcografia Camerale. This act of sale is the document that witnesses the end of the De Rossi printing house, one of the most important European printing houses.
|