Lot n° 37
Estimation :
15000 - 20000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 68 900EUR
MALVASIA, CARLO CESARE
Felsina Pittrice Vite de Pittori Bolognesi. Alla Maesta Christianissima di Luigi XIIII Re Di Francia E Di Navarra Il Sempre Vittorioso
Bologna, Per l'Erede di Domenico Barbieri, 1678. 2 volumes in-4, full red morocco, binding known as the sun. The plates framed with nets, rolls and fleur-de-lys are punctuated with cartouches with crowns, ranging from the ancient laurel crown to the modern crown. In the center of the dishes, large radiant sun set in laurel branches. Finely decorated cups. Spine ribbed decorated with scrolls and small dots. Moreover, one finds inscribed on the boards of the first volume: Sic ornat diademate crines;
Sic geminat Splendore diem and on the boards of the second volume: Has iungut et auget Utraque regulget. Endpapers gilt embossed in alternating semis of fleur-de-lis and "L". Minimal wear to boards, small accidents.
T1: [16], 581 pp. 1 hors-texte, [1] p., 45 hors-texte engravings of portraits, frames and illustrations + engraved title and 18 vignettes depicting the explanation of the funeral in 1603 of Augustin Carracci by Benedetto Morello. T2: [4] pp, title, [2], 606, [6] pp. 26 plates off-text. Two tiny wormholes without gravity. Very rare spotting in the text. Gilt letters on title and first pages.
The dedication binding to Louis XIV is particularly remarkable both for its decoration with the sun and for the formula running on both: Sic ornat diademate crines;
Sic geminat Splendore diem. Has iungut et auget Utraque regulget, in other words: "He joins and increases these two suns and still governs them. Thus he adorns his hair with a diadem, Thus he doubles the brightness of the day".
This binding is in perfect adequacy with the work that it protects. Indeed, Malvasia dedicated his work to Louis XIV who, in return, presented him with his portrait enriched with diamonds.
Carlo Cesare Malvasia (1616-1693) was an Italian art historian known for his biographies of artists. He is often referred to as the Bolognese Vasari. His Felsina pittrice, the main source of information on the painters of Emilia Romagna, promoted the Italian greatness of the Baroque.
His work consists of four parts: research on the painters who worked in Bologna before the Renaissance; the origin and history of the Bologna school of painting; the lives of the Carracci and contemporary artists; the lives of other painters including Reni, Le Dominiquin and Le Guerchin.
A similar binding, but in poorer condition and in calf, is held by the Houghton Library (Harvard University). It protects another copy of Malvasia's Felsina Pittrice Vite (Typ. 625.78.552).
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