Paolo Fidanza’s two etchings, “Plate 22: Apollo” and “Plate 23: Calliope”, c1757

Paolo Fidanza (fl.1731–1785)

“Plate 22: Apollo” and “Plate 23: Calliope”, c1757, from the series of twenty-four heads after Raphael’s fresco, “The Parnassus” (c1510) (see https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parnaso_02.jpg) in the Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican. The Royal Collection Trust proposes (see https://www.rct.uk/collection/852467) that the prints may also be plates in the two-volume series of the 180 prints (not all by Fidanza), “Recueil De Têtes Choisies De Personnages Illustres Dans Les Lettres Et Dans Les Armes Exactement Dessinées Et Gravées De La Grandeur Des Originaux Par Paul Fidanza Peintre Romain D'Après Les Peintures De Raphaël D'Urbin Et Autres Grands Maîtres Existantes Au Vatican Et Dans Plusieurs galeries De Rome Ouvrage Contenant CLXXXX” ([Trans.] “Collection Of Selected Heads Of Illustrious Personages In Letters And In Arms Exactly Drawn And Engraved From The Grandeur Of The Originals By Paul Fidanza Roman Painter From The Paintings Of Raphael D'Urbino And Other Great Masters Existing In The Vatican And In Several Galleries Of Rome Book Containing 180 [plates]”), published by Bouchard et Gravier (Giovanni Bouchard and Jean Joseph Gravier) (fl.1750–1789) in Rome in 1785. Note that the dimensions of the sheets of this pair of prints are larger than the published volumes by Buchard et Gravier suggesting that these prints are from the earlier c1757 edition (or certainly a different edition).

Etchings with engraving with pale plate tone on laid paper with wide margins as published.

Size of each print: (sheet) 57.5 x 42.3 cm; (Apollo plate) 39.2 x 29.8 cm; (Calliope plate) 37.7 x 26.9 cm.

Inscribed in plate on “Plate 22: Apollo”: (upper right corner) “Tav. 22.”; (lower edge) “APOLLO, detto anche Febo figlio di Giove, e di Latona. I Poeti lo fanno il Dio della Divinazione, e della Sapienza, e Inventore/ assieme con Esculapio suo figliuolo della Medicina; Rappresentato da Rafaele nel monto Parnaso in mezzo alle nove Muse.”

(Google Transl.) “APOLLO, also called Phoebus son of Jupiter, and of Latona. The Poets make him the God of Divination, and of Wisdom, and Inventor/ together with Aesculapius, his son of Medicine; Represented by Rafaele in the Parnassus mountain in the midst of the nine Muses.”

Inscribed in plate on “Plate 23: Calliope”: (upper right corner) “Tav. 23.”; (lower edge) “CALLIOPE, la prima delle nove Muse, la quale trovo le Lettere, e il verso Eroico, fu figurata da/ Rafaele nel suo Monte Parnaso vicino ad Apollo.”

(Google Transl.) “CALLIOPE, the first of the nine Muses, which I find the Letters, and the Heroic verse, was depicted by / Rafaele in his Mount Parnassus near Apollo.”

Condition: richly inked and well-printed early impressions (based on the linework showing no sign of wear to the printing plates) with generously wide margins (as published) in excellent condition.

I am selling this pair of large etchings in superb condition for their considerable age for the total cost of AU$440 for the pair (currently US$320.51/EUR279.46/GBP233.58 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing these grand scale etchings based on figures in Raphael’s fresco, “The Parnassus”, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

These prints have been sold 

Paolo Fidanza’s etching, “Life-size study of a head from Raphael’s ‘School of Athens’”, 1785

Paolo Fidanza (fl.1731–1785)

“Life-size study of a head from Raphael’s ‘School of Athens’” (descriptive title only), 1785, plate 14 in a series of 90 plates published by Bouchard & Gravier (fl.1750–89) in Volume 1 (of 2) of “Recueil De Têtes Choisies De Personnages Illustres Dans Les Lettres Et Dans Les Armes Exactement Dessinées Et Gravées De La Grandeur Des Originaux Par Paul Fidanza Peintre Romain D'Après Les Peintures De Raphaël D'Urbin Et Autres Grands Maîtres Existantes Au Vatican Et Dans Plusieurs galeries De Rome Ouvrage Contenant CLXXXX. Planches Tom. I. (II.)”

Etching on laid paper with full margins and centre crease (flattened) as published.

Size: (sheet) 35.4 x 46 cm; (plate) 26.8 x 37.3 cm

Inscribed on the plate: (upper left) “Tom I”; (upper right) “14”; (lower edge) “Testa incognita, che si vede frà Discepoli d’Archimede attenti alle Dimostrazioni Geometriche nella Scuola d’Atene. Di Rafaelle d’Urbino nel Palazzo Vaticano. Polo Fidanza del. ed inc.” (Gooble Transl. “Head incognita, which can be seen among Disciples of the Archimedes attentive to the Geometric Demonstrations in the School of Athens. Rafaelle d'Urbino in the Vatican Palace.”

Lifetime impression as published in 1785.

See The Royal Academy for a description of the volume in which this etching features: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/book/recueil-de-tetes-choisies-de-personnages-illustres-dans-les-lettres-et-dans

See images from this publication: https://www.ursusbooks.com/pages/books/113287/paolo-fidanza/raphael-sanzio-da-urbino-recueil-de-tetes-choises-personages and  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pythagoras._Etching_by_P._Fidanza_after_Raphael._Wellcome_V0004824.jpg

Condition: crisp and well-inked impression in excellent/near pristine condition (i.e. there are no significant tears, holes, abrasions, stains or foxing, but there is a fine line from the original centre fold, which is now flattened and virtually invisible, and two specks of white in the printing have been restored).

I am selling this rare and large etching (note that it does not feature in any of the major museum online repositories) for the total cost of AU$172 (currently US$134.46/EUR112.03/GBP99.58 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this academic study after Raphael, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

By design, Fidanza planned this print to be the same size as one of the heads of the “discepoli d’Archimede” (disciples of Archimedes) from Raphael’s fresco, “Scuola di Atene” (The School of Athens), 1509–11. According to an earlier account of the process used by Fidanza published by “A Society of Gentlemen” in February 3, 1757 (see W Simpkin and R Marshall, “The Critical Review: Or, Annals of Literature, Volume 3”, p. 174), Fidanza’s approach to making copies was to oil a sheet of paper so that I would become transparent and to then use this transparent paper to trace a copy directly from the original. Heavens to Betsy! … No wonder the old frescoes have darken with time if they had oily copy sheets placed on them!

After comparing the original with the etching, however, I doubt very much that this process of tracing directly from the original actually happened as the etched image is not an exact copy of the Raphael’s original design at all.