Celebration on the Arno for the wedding of Cosimo de' Medici
| Reference: | S43555 |
| Author | Matthaeus GREUTER |
| Year: | 1608 |
| Measures: | 390 x 265 mm |
€1,500.00
| Reference: | S43555 |
| Author | Matthaeus GREUTER |
| Year: | 1608 |
| Measures: | 390 x 265 mm |
€1,500.00
Description
L’ARGONAVTICA, rappresentata in ARNO per le nozze dell Ser.mo COSIMO de Med. Princ. Di Toscana, colla Ser.ma MARIA MADALENA d’Austria in FIORENZA, alli 3 di Novembre. 1608.
Etching and engraving, 1608, signed on the lower plate.
The print has an inscription on the right that names Giorgio Cristoforo Baroni as the probable patron of the Greuter: Illustri ac Generoso Baroni a Losenstein, Losensteinleute, Dno i Wieting, Rosseck, Weideholtz, Schallaburg et Sichteberg. D. S. Clenment. Mmathaeus Greuter. In the lower margin we find the imprint FLORENTIAE Superiorum licentia Matthaeus Greuter excu and again in the centre within a frame Vigeant MEDICI and Greuterus, Roma, veniens, Florentiae mostrat Ordine, praeteritos, Prelia, Festa dies. Hacce tabella tibi praesentat Nautca Cosmi. Auctori grates, candide Lactor age. Benedictus Coccius. B.
Greuter's work originated as an iconographic apparatus attached to L'Argonautica del S. Francesco Cini rappresentata in Arno per le nozze del sereniss. d. Cosimo de Medici. Principe di Toscana. E della serenissima arciduchessa Maria Maddalena d'Austria. In Firenze l'anno. 1608.
This is one of the numerous and now rare books of celebrations, published for the wedding of Cosimo II, eldest son of Ferdinand with Maria Magdalena of Austria, for which figurative documentation abounds, thanks above all to Ludovico Cigoli and Matthäus Greuter who, together with Remigio Cantagallina, translated Giulio Parigi's splendid set designs into print.
The event, celebrated in 1608, was much studied and detailed, in particular for the scenographic arrangements of the games, the public tournaments, for the choreographies of the ballets and in general for the theatrical performances in the Medici palaces that followed one after the other from 18 October, the date on which the new Grand Duchess made her triumphal entry into Florence, until 5 November, with the Giostra del Saracino contested in Piazza Santa Croce. Less fruitful, despite efforts, has been archive research so far on the derivative engravings, of which we cannot yet state with certainty whether they were directly commissioned by the court. The work of the German artist Matthaüs Greuter are in any case the two etchings illustrating, respectively, the grandiose and didactic Entrance to Florence of Maria Magdalena of Austria, which bears the dedication to Matteo Botti, Marquis of Campiglia, and the Grand Duke's 'Major Cathedral' followed by the similar Wedding Banquet, both attached to the Descrizione delle feste attributed to Camillo Rinuccini and published in Florence in 1608. In addition to these, the publication also included individual descriptions with the texts of the plays and ballets performed during those festivities, namely L'Argonautica by Francesco Cini, Ballo e Giostra dei Venti nelle nozze del serenissimo principe e della serenissima principessa di Toscana arciduchessa, by Lorenzo Franceschini, I cavalieri Sanesi e valorosi e cortesi professori d'arme, and finally the text of the theatrical performance La Notte d'Amore, again by Francesco Cini, which took place on the evening of 22 October in Palazzo Pitti. The publication was completed by other chalcographic engravings, in addition to the two already mentioned, including, by Greuter, La Giostra dei Venti, Il Nobil Anticho Giuoco del combattimento del Ponte solito farsi in Pisa and L'Argonautica; both mention the event of the wedding but are not dedicated to the Medici' (cf. Baroni, I Medici e l'incisione: Le origini della collezione di stampe degli Uffizi, 2008, pp. 39-41).
Beautiful proof, printed on contemporary laid paper, trimmed in copperplate, usual paper folds - due to the provenance of Cini's book - in good condition. Example applied on 'Japan' paper.
Bibliografia
Alessandra Baroni, I Medici e l’incisione: Le origini della collezione di stampe degli Uffizi, 2008, pp. 39-41, fig. 39.
Matthaeus GREUTER (Strasburgo 1564 - Roma 1638)
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Matthaus or Mathias or Matheus Greuter was a draftsman, engraver, and publisher. Son of the goldsmith Konrad of Kempten, he was born around 1565-66, probably in Strasbourg. He died in Rome in 1564, where he was buried in the church of St. Eustachius in 1638. In 1588, Greuter was also recorded as a goldsmith, although he had already been producing dated prints for at least two years, thus starting the activity to which he would dedicate the rest of his life. A Lutheran, he converted to Catholicism around 1593 and, perhaps because of this choice, he abandoned Strasbourg, moving to Lyon (around 1595-99), at that time the second most important center in France for engraving and book production, and then to Avignon (1600-03). In mid-1603, Greuter arrived in Rome with three children from his first marriage, including Johann Friedrich and Susanna (c. 1591–1629), and lived there until his death. He remarried, to Innocenza Grandoni, with whom he had a son, Carlo Felice, born in 1606 and baptized in the parish of San Marcello. Greuter is certainly recorded as having resided in this parish from 1630 to 1636 with the family of his son Johann Friedrich and several collaborators: D. Widmann, an assistant engraver, and J. Widmer, a printer's apprentice. The Flemish printer Geert van Schayck, Italianized as Gotifredo Scaicchi, Greuter's son-in-law, worked in Greuter's workshop - first indicated along the Corso near S. Marcello (for example in 1608 and 1612) and then, according to the 1618 Map of Rome published by Greuter under the sign of the Black Eagle, near S. Tommaso in Parione - even though we cannot know whether he worked there or in another building, some copper plates from this workshop certainly became the property of Greuter and F. De Rossi in 1648, later merging into the Calcografia camerale. In the later years of his life, the Stati delle anime (1633-34) mention G.'s house, near the border with the parish of S. Maria in Aquiro, as that of "the printer". Greuter's professional success in Rome was immediate, as evidenced by the considerable number of dated works from his earliest years and the repeated granting of ten-year privileges (1604, 1621), which were intended to guarantee the artist exclusivity over his creations, which were often copied. The extensive catalogue of his works, which is nevertheless subject to some additions, has been reconstructed by R. Zijlma, and includes hundreds of prints, both on loose sheets and in books. This demonstrates the artist's versatility, having trained himself on the examples of late Northern Mannerism and then increasingly drawn to Roman Baroque culture. He experimented in many fields, from independent figurative invention to engraving, from other artists' prototypes to geographical and architectural images, always with appreciable results. The main problem in establishing an accurate catalogue is the existence of numerous engravings signed "M.G.F." (or "M.G.f."), some of which were engraved in Rome in the 1580s. These cannot be attributed to Greuter, as they had not yet arrived in Italy at that time, and should therefore be removed from his catalogue, also due to the stylistic differences with his production prior to his Roman years.
Greuter's first dated engravings in Rome date to 1604. During this period, he produced prints based on drawings by others, often very complex, as well as his own. His early relationships with the Oratorians were significant, for whom he produced various reproductions of Philip Neri. Among the numerous documentary and devotional images, those relating to the ceremonies for the marriage of Cosimo de' Medici to Magdalene of Austria (1608: five engravings) and the canonization apparatus of Charles Borromeo (1610) and Ignatius of Loyola (1622) are noteworthy. One of the areas in which Greuter seemed to achieve the greatest success was topographical and architectural engravings. In 1618, he published the large and complex map of Rome he drew and engraved, based on careful measurements and real-life assessments (it was republished in 1626 and 1638).
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Matthaeus GREUTER (Strasburgo 1564 - Roma 1638)
|
Matthaus or Mathias or Matheus Greuter was a draftsman, engraver, and publisher. Son of the goldsmith Konrad of Kempten, he was born around 1565-66, probably in Strasbourg. He died in Rome in 1564, where he was buried in the church of St. Eustachius in 1638. In 1588, Greuter was also recorded as a goldsmith, although he had already been producing dated prints for at least two years, thus starting the activity to which he would dedicate the rest of his life. A Lutheran, he converted to Catholicism around 1593 and, perhaps because of this choice, he abandoned Strasbourg, moving to Lyon (around 1595-99), at that time the second most important center in France for engraving and book production, and then to Avignon (1600-03). In mid-1603, Greuter arrived in Rome with three children from his first marriage, including Johann Friedrich and Susanna (c. 1591–1629), and lived there until his death. He remarried, to Innocenza Grandoni, with whom he had a son, Carlo Felice, born in 1606 and baptized in the parish of San Marcello. Greuter is certainly recorded as having resided in this parish from 1630 to 1636 with the family of his son Johann Friedrich and several collaborators: D. Widmann, an assistant engraver, and J. Widmer, a printer's apprentice. The Flemish printer Geert van Schayck, Italianized as Gotifredo Scaicchi, Greuter's son-in-law, worked in Greuter's workshop - first indicated along the Corso near S. Marcello (for example in 1608 and 1612) and then, according to the 1618 Map of Rome published by Greuter under the sign of the Black Eagle, near S. Tommaso in Parione - even though we cannot know whether he worked there or in another building, some copper plates from this workshop certainly became the property of Greuter and F. De Rossi in 1648, later merging into the Calcografia camerale. In the later years of his life, the Stati delle anime (1633-34) mention G.'s house, near the border with the parish of S. Maria in Aquiro, as that of "the printer". Greuter's professional success in Rome was immediate, as evidenced by the considerable number of dated works from his earliest years and the repeated granting of ten-year privileges (1604, 1621), which were intended to guarantee the artist exclusivity over his creations, which were often copied. The extensive catalogue of his works, which is nevertheless subject to some additions, has been reconstructed by R. Zijlma, and includes hundreds of prints, both on loose sheets and in books. This demonstrates the artist's versatility, having trained himself on the examples of late Northern Mannerism and then increasingly drawn to Roman Baroque culture. He experimented in many fields, from independent figurative invention to engraving, from other artists' prototypes to geographical and architectural images, always with appreciable results. The main problem in establishing an accurate catalogue is the existence of numerous engravings signed "M.G.F." (or "M.G.f."), some of which were engraved in Rome in the 1580s. These cannot be attributed to Greuter, as they had not yet arrived in Italy at that time, and should therefore be removed from his catalogue, also due to the stylistic differences with his production prior to his Roman years.
Greuter's first dated engravings in Rome date to 1604. During this period, he produced prints based on drawings by others, often very complex, as well as his own. His early relationships with the Oratorians were significant, for whom he produced various reproductions of Philip Neri. Among the numerous documentary and devotional images, those relating to the ceremonies for the marriage of Cosimo de' Medici to Magdalene of Austria (1608: five engravings) and the canonization apparatus of Charles Borromeo (1610) and Ignatius of Loyola (1622) are noteworthy. One of the areas in which Greuter seemed to achieve the greatest success was topographical and architectural engravings. In 1618, he published the large and complex map of Rome he drew and engraved, based on careful measurements and real-life assessments (it was republished in 1626 and 1638).
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