Blessed Bernard Offida
Master engraving on copper wire on beautiful paper.
Private Collection Galanz
(© copyright-All rights reserved)
The Santino, reliably dated at the beginning of the second half of the eighteenth century-opens in the wake of news stories passed down the well known and bitter conflict between the Habsburgs and Engravers Remondini of Bassano del Grappa-an interesting and constructive discussion and are welcome to participate in all the collectors and scholars:
We are faced with a genuine Busch, clearly intended to trade with competitive Remondini in Italy, or we are exceptionally facing one of the notorious Remondiniane that copies triggered the casus belli that opened the case against the Habsburgs Engravers Remondini in Bavaria in the year 1766?
Sister Isabella -the-century Elizabeth Piccini (Venice 0.1648-1734) - see article dedicated to her here on the Blog - eldest daughter of the famous engraver Giacomo Piccini was the death of his father in 1660, the first woman- Venetian engraver to make specific time for bold request to the Doge of exclusive privileges to protect their incisions made with the technique of engraving on copper plate. E 'certificate from the chronicles that the request came from the Doge of the City of San Marco and the required privileges granted in the rapid interval of only thirty days granted; not for all the artists and Venetian art gravure printers, however, was easier to obtain these areas, and-among other things, expensive privileges.
activity Engraving and Printing Images sacred intended to popular piety was actually a very common and fruitful in Venice throughout the eighteenth century, as documented by the large collection of prints on display today at present and Archives and Museums of the most important Italian cities and even before as authoritatively demonstrated by studies and research carried out individually by eminent scholars and enthusiasts of Art Critics Including the same great collector prints and devotional images Achille Bertarelli (Milan, 1863 - Rome, 1938), who treated them very interesting and authentic milestone passed down in the Opera "The IMAGER POPULAR Italienne" published in French language in Paris in 1929.
Thus, the enchanting Venice and forge official birthplace of Italian art gravure century Enlightenment.
In our virtual tours today, back in time over three centuries, across the lagoon, into the heart active and vibrant city, treading along the ancient cobbled streets with historical Madonnas of rare beauty set Pity the walls for the traveler, crossing bridges, charming and unique in the world, we encounter a multitude of shops chalcographic almost in sequence as the grains of a rosary close at one o'clock on the other, if we peep from old doors Wood parted almost deafening us and the constant thud of the heavy presses that " daily torment "-as specified by Remondini proudly on the front of a famous Catalog about the vast and diversified their production of prints published in devout Venice nell'anno1772-anywhere tirelessly throughout the day, continuing in some circumstances-when, if not uncommon, for example, you have to evade large fees required for the next day without reserve-even well after sunset.
The Holders of Engraving and Printing Venetian shops, you are familiar with all of them, some are greeted by name when they meet at a brisk pace through the streets with shiny copper plates in the arm, sometimes nodded a brief reverence, and to us, virtual Time Travelers, see what excites us giving us a perfect semblance of social equilibrium and exemplary democratic marked by the observance of laws and religious and moral principles of an ideal city.
The reality of the social climate inside the copperplate in Venice, however, very different and for the entire period of 1700 emerges clearly thicker and heavier than the same fog that traditionally for centuries, since already from the first cold winds with his cloak the city, always is indeed higher than the competition and countless more anger-or-less evident among the various artists -Engravers and Printers of the burin on copper always existed - almost genetic inclination, resulting in continual quarrels and-at worst- in real duels with makeshift swords drawn between those same streets and public squares and a tasty free show for the greedy populace. This applies to a problem concrete and extremely burdensome for the city authorities almost daily in the light of the aforementioned facts and rivers of repeated complaints and anonymous accusations, they are forced to meet in frantic consultations to discuss and adopt more appropriate measures that could once and for all put an end - or at least ensure a stable balance - these competitions sceleratissime et disrespectful of other people's rights and honor .
and the situation is exacerbated by the apparent hostility to Engraving and Printing-Santi Venetians, exceptionally compact and united this time for the common cause against the Giambattista Bassano (Bassano 0.1713-1773) and Giovanni Antonio Remondini (Bassano 0.1700-1769), son of the famous Joseph - among other things, he refined devotional images Collector engraved and signed by the greatest artists of the seventeenth and eighteenth-secc.XVI - when, in the year 1747 , with a unique heritage of five paper mills, a factory occupying much of the vast area of \u200b\u200bthe main square in Bassano, an incredible number of presses and, in addition to more than one thousand employees in that, the famous and loyal team of 1000 Tesini , arrive in Venice on request to the Education Committee publica- 's body supreme governing the city Art intaglio prints and trade in general - also to be recognized as employees and members to this noble art, with additional applications for permission to open a shop in the city specifically for the sale of books.
The uproar that broke out this legitimate request of Remondini we can easily imagine, just as specious legal brawl that inevitably resulted, the latter, after three years, finally ended nell'anno1750 clearly in favor of Remondini Bassano obtained so that the required privileges for their print-on religious subjects as well as secular - and opened a little later in the ancient heart of the city a Library which soon became the main point of reference for the Committee at the Italian and European prints of sacred texts, Tomi Latin classics with fine bindings decorated parchment brush, and competitive-date atlases.
Here too, as he was voting for Santini and colorful, beautiful sacred images, the Remondini consistently held it until the sunset of the century, the absolute primacy in the production and sales: a rare insight and foresight played by Joseph Remondini invest money for the purchase of five cards in Bassano and around today gave its best results.
The books printed by famous Bassano had used for the raw material - paper precisely Essendon-producers themselves, almost no cost and this allowed the placing on the national and international market at costs significantly lower than those charged by all other Venetian printers.
The chronicles of the now well known to all lovers of Santini and Collections of sacred images he saw on the shelves because of Court of Augsburg in Bavaria the Tesini the pay of Joseph Remondini accused of plagiarism by local carvers, handed down a similar case brought against them in Spain ; So change the geographic latitude, but the script seems Remondini interpreted by the same.
And it was the ruthlessness of Remondini Bassano, under the aegis of 'old Latin adage LUCK IUVAT Audaces ("The (DEA) Fortune favors the brave") was coined in 79 BC by the distinguished historian and naturalist Pliny the Latin Caius According to the Old-alias-the secret of their success and their international reputation for two centuries, until, as we have seen year- 1861.
was not yet the only luck or the benevolence of good fortune to be favorable to large Printers Bassanesi : realistically favored by significant economic opportunities to obtain licenses and pay these privileged and the famous international popularity, in 1738 obtained by the Savi V Magistrates of the Merchandise of Venice the privilege of free absolutely exclusive marketing of their religious prints all over the country duty free granted indefinitely, ie for the duration of life and a full-privileged favor of the latter- the burden of taxes as regards the entry, transit and trade of printed matter devoted from Augusta and Germany in general.
other hand, always at the explicit Remondini request, the Supreme Body granted after the same the privilege to trade freely in Venice and throughout Italy Habsburg copies of the engravings, with obvious reasons for huge savings and convenience for those who wanted to buy in Italy without having to pay-originals but at a great price - directly imported from the Bavarian manufacturer.
Towards the end of the century, increased exponentially chalcographic the shops in the city, in the specific area in a landscape characterized by steady growth in marketing and distribution of the Saints from Stamperie stranger side of the Alps - in particular way from Bavaria and signed by the famous engraver and printer Habsburg Joseph Busch promoter of a business intentionally belligerent and aggressively competitive against Remondini Bassano - and increasingly obvious and infamous abuses at the local level in the copies and unauthorized reproductions of the same intended to trade land and especially trans, imperious and thundered particularly severe nell'anno1797 the voice expressed in this context, a decree by the Extraordinary Committee for publica education City , as mentioned supreme body in charge the regulation of trade: in it, to protect the rights of the painter, engraver and the very title of the workshop was by that time dictated that these were their names engraved on copper plate must in order to discourage the artifice of copies and reproductions misappropriation of the work performed by third parties and all the honors it has rightly caused, resulting in serious economic and moral and legitimate for the original creators.
E'altresì Remondini documented that, after an initial short period in which respected this provision by signing top bottom effigy the Saint being celebrated, later-and was certainly not an 'innocent forgetfulness! - never again waited in the production of many different types of beautiful devotional image which, as known to collectors, were ambiguously "anonymous", looking for intelligently " adoption "in all countries of the known world.
As I said at the beginning of my article, not randomly but deliberately morale of many and varied events described so far in this disputed scenario-not, however, was equally easy for all Engraving and Printing's Venetian obtaining the desired concessions and privileges for their prints and the more likely the fail with private agreements or tacit assent to skirt the issue and venal and circumvent the various instructions issued in this activity discipline: the chronicles sadly passed on-the-emblematic case of ' Engraver, Printer Merchants and devotional prints and engraved on copper plate Teodoro Viero (1740-1821): On multiple and repeated attempts to get the privilege to protect their incisions none of them ever came to fruition disappointingly-limiting and not a little cynical, I might add - rejected.
Paola Galanz
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