Regatta on the Grand Canal, etching and engraving by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (325 × 465 mm, platemark) View larger
Regatta on the Grand Canal, etching and engraving by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (325 × 465 mm, platemark)
  • Regatta on the Grand Canal, etching and engraving by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (325 × 465 mm, platemark)
  • Festa del Redentore, etching and engraving by Brustolon after Canaletto (320 × 447 mm, platemark)
Brustolon (Giovanni Battista), c. 1716/1718-1796

Prospectuum aedium, viarumque insigniorum urbis venetiarum nautico certamine, ac nundinis adiectis. Tomus primus tabulas XII complectens, quas Antonius Canale coloribus expressit – Joannes Baptista Brustolon aere incidit. Serenissimo Principi D.D. Marco Foscareno Egregio, emerito, sapientissimo Augustae Republicae Duci D.D.D. Anno AE C. 1763 ab V.C. 1341

Venice, Lodovico Furlanetto, 1763
One of the finest of Venetian topographical print suites, equal in stature to the publications of Carlevarijs, Canaletto-Visentini, and Marieschi, however of greater rarity, especially as here in first edition (of four) with all prints in first state and in fine state of preservation. Ten of its twenty vedute depend from paintings of Canaletto drawn and engraved by Antonio Visentini, adapted to a larger size by Brustolon, who extended the views and enriched them with new objects and figures. Another four vedute are precise copies of prints by Michele Marieschi, slightly reduced from their models. The remaining six of Brustolon’s vedute are more original: four etchings are derived from recent paintings and drawings by Canaletto (executed 1756-1763) and the other two document paintings or drawings by Giambattista and Giuseppe Moretti. Throughout the suite, but particularly in etchings of this last group, depicting popular festivals seen by moonlight, Brustolon displays his special gift for rendering “la trasparenza dei cieli del Canaletto, e la luminosa brillantezza delle architetture” (Terisio Pignatti), which has earned for him a position “tra i più dotati e versatili incisori del suo tempo” (Mari Pietrogiovanna).

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Subjects
Book illustration - Reproductive printmaking - Canaletto, 1697-1768
Book illustration - Reproductive printmaking - Marieschi (Michele Giovanni), 1696-1743
Prints - Artists, Italian - Brustolon (Giovanni Battista), c. 1716/1718-1796
Authors/Creators
Brustolon, Giovanni Battista, c. 1716/1718-1796
Artists/Illustrators
Brustolon, Giovanni Battista, c. 1716/1718-1796
Canaletto, 1697-1768
Marieschi, Michele Giovanni, 1696-1743
Moretti, Giovanni Battista, active 1732-c. 1755
Moretti, Giuseppe, active 1760-c. 1782
Visentini, Antonio, 1688-1782
Printers/Publishers
Furlanetto, Lodovico, active 1760?-1779?
Other names
Foscarini, Marco, doge di Venezia, 1695-1763
Smith, Joseph, Consul, 1674-1770

Brustolon, Giovanni Battista
Dont di Zoldo circa 1716–1718 — 1796 Venice

Prospectuum aedium, viarumque insigniorum urbis venetiarum nautico certamine, ac nundinis adiectis. Tomus primus tabulas xii complectens, quas Antonius Canale coloribus expressit – Joannes Baptista Brustolon aere inci­dit. Serenissimo Principi D.D. Marco Foscareno Egregio, emerito, sapientis­simo Augustae Republicae Duci D.D.D. Anno AE C. 1763 ab V.C. 1341.

Venice, Lodovico Furlanetto, 1763

oblong folio (535 × 730 mm), (21) ff., comprising etched and engraved frontispiece (lettering tran­scribed above) and twenty etched and engraved views (each circa 325 × 460 mm) by Brustolon after paintings or drawings by Canaletto, Michele Marieschi, Giambattista and Giuseppe Moretti, very fine, fresh impressions in first state (of four), all prints retaining broad margins (sheet dimensions circa 506/510 × 720 mm, some deckle edges preserved).

paper large watermark of a bouquet of flowers above initials fv (signifying the mill of the Fratelli Vezzoli, Toscolano; seen in frontispiece and ‘Nocte festum Sanctae Marthae’); smaller mark with initials fv (height 32 mm; discernable in six prints).1 Watermark in binder’s endpapers: fleur-de-lys (height 60 mm).

Included in the album (bound as the penultimate plate) is an impression of ‘Serenisimmus Venetiarum Dux, recens renuntiatus, a Seniori ex xli. electoribus in Ducali Basilica populo conspiciendus proponitur’ (matrice 450 × 570 mm), an etching by Brustolon after Canaletto, from the series of ‘Feste dogali’ (plate 1 of 12), a good impression in the second state (of four), on paper with large watermark of a (star?) on a shield (height 230 mm) and countermark ~ olanda ~.

provenance old octagonal library shelf label with gold border (20 × 22 mm), within E : 6 added by pen (positioned in bottom outside corner of lower pastedown) — anonymously consigned to Sotheby’s, ‘Old Master, Modern & Contemporary prints’, London, 3 October 2006, lot 14

condition short tears in margins of frontispiece, weak hanging folds (except ‘Nocturna populi exulta­tio’, where fold stronger), slight surface dirt along edges of sheet (and stains on verso of ‘Nocturna populi exultatio’), vertical handling creases on some plates, however generally in excellent state of preservation.

binding contemporary Italian half-vellum; sides covered by rough brown paper, the vellum back deco­rated by four repetitions of a gilt rose tool, and lettered in ink Canaletto Vedute.

One of the finest of Venetian topographical print suites, equal in stature to the publi­cations of Carlevarijs, Canaletto-Visentini, and Marieschi, however of greater rarity, especially as here in first edition (of four) with all prints in first state and in fine state of preservation.

Ten of its twenty vedute depend from paintings of Canaletto drawn and engraved by Antonio Visentini (published 1735 and 1742; reissued 1751, 1754), adapted to a larger size by Brustolon, who extended the views and enriched them with new objects and figures (see Fig. 1).2 Another four vedute are precise copies of prints by Michele Marieschi (published 1741–1742; reissued 1751, 1757), slightly reduced from their models.3 The remaining six of Brustolon’s vedute are more original: four etchings are derived from recent paintings and drawings by Canaletto (executed 1756–1763; see Fig. 2) and the other two document paintings or drawings by Giambattista and Giuseppe Moretti. Throughout the suite, but particularly in etchings of this last group, depicting popular festivals seen by moonlight, Brustolon displays his special gift for rendering ‘la trasparenza dei cieli del Canaletto, e la luminosa brillantezza delle architetture’,4 which has earned for him a position ‘tra i più dotati e versatili incisori del suo tempo’.5

Giovanni Battista Brustolon

According to recently discovered documents, Brustolon was born in Dont di Zoldo (Val Zoldana, province of Belluno) circa 1716–1718 (not in Venice in 1712, as generally stated), and became a resident of Venice in 1733.6 He most probably is the ‘Burstaloni’ from whom the Swedish diplomat Carl Gustav Tessin (advised by the local connoisseur Antonio Maria Zanetti) purchased in May 1736 ‘Deux têtes’, reporting (in a letter to Carl Hårleman, dated 16 June 1736) ‘Burstaloni peint al fresque et à l’huile, bien et bon marché; mais sa composition est peu de chose, et ne sauroit passer une moyenne toile’.7

From his arrival in Venice until about 1742, Brustolon is documented in the employment of the printers Guglielmo Zerletti and Antonio Girardi in the parish of SS. Ermagora e Fortunato (San Marcuola), working as a designer or engraver of book illustrations. The earliest of his signed illustrations appear in books issued in 1745 by the publisher Francesco Pitteri.8 By the mid-1750s, Brustolon was working for the two most renowned publishers in Venice, Antonio Zatta and Giambattista Pasquali; in the following decades, he illustrated books published by Tommaso Bettinelli, Giuseppe Bortoli, Giacomo Caraboli and Domenico Pompeati, among others; and in 1780 he embarked on an independent ven­ture – a series of large views of Rome, etched and published at his own expense.9 Through­out this time Brustolon also worked intensively for the printmaker and print publisher Lodovico Furlanetto.

Lodovico Furlanetto

Lodovico Furlanetto was already well-established ‘sul ponte dei Baretteri’ by 1739, in which year he obtained a privilege for a reissue of Lodovico Ughi’s thirteen-sheet plan of Venice, having acquired the matrices after the death of their original publisher Giuseppe Baroni.10 In his petition for this privilege, Furlanetto describes himself as ‘incisor d’istorie e santi istorati’,11 and the making and selling of so-called ‘popular’ prints probably always was his primary business.12 Two stocklists are known: a ‘Catalogo delle Stampe di Lodovico Furlanetto’ of circa 1779,13 and a ‘Catalogue des ouvrages gravées au Burin, qui se vendent chez Louis Furlanetto Marchand Imager, Rue Mercerie sur le Pont des Berrettas a Venise, Avec Privilege du Senat’ of circa 1778.14 Most of the publications advertised were struck from old matrices obtained from a variety of sources: six reproductive prints, after Charles Le Brun,15 Antonio Balestra,16 Pietro Liberi,17 Veronese,18 and Tintoretto;19 a suite of the same after Giambattista Piazzetta;20 four maps (the original Ughi plan,21 a reduced version of it,22 another map of Venice,23 and a map of the Venetian Lagoon);24 and five suites of topographical views (some completed, others underway, or merely planned). The publications in this last category are of a much higher class: only one was printed from old matrices,25 the other four were commissioned by Furlanetto from Brustolon.

Prospectuum aedium

The Prospectuum aedium was the first of the commissions Brustolon received from Furlanetto. It was conceived as a series of twelve prints after designs by Canaletto, and apparently was first issued as such in 1763, with the publisher falsely claiming to have obtained a privilege (a sort of copyright) from the Venetian Senate.26 Furlanetto evidently judged it a success: he commanded Brustolon to etch additional views after Canaletto, and others after Marieschi and the Moretti brothers, projecting an enlarged work (never fully realised) of 24 Vedute principali di Venezia (this title was bestowed upon the work in the aforementioned ‘Catalogo delle Stampe’ of circa 1779).

Furlanetto also engaged Brustolon on three other projects derived from drawings or paint­ings by Canaletto: a set of eight (later enlarged to twelve) prints of ceremonies and festivals attended by the Doge (the famous ‘Feste dogali’, commenced in 1766 but not certainly completed until 1779);27 a set of 24 Capricj de Architettura (described as a ‘raccolta incominciata’ in the ‘Catalogo delle Stampe’ of circa 1779, and perhaps abandoned, as no complete set is known);28 and a set of 4 Principali note della Piasa, copies of Visentini’s four prints of St. Mark’s Square, after Canaletto’s paintings of 1743 and 1744 (in the same stock list, but probably not begun, as no impressions are known).29

The frontispiece of the Prospectuum aedium is lettered ‘Tomus primus | tabulas xii com­plectens’, implying that further volumes composed of additional views were impending. On the evidence of a copy bound for the dedicatee, Doge Marco Foscarini, the first prints etched by Brustolon were the frontispiece, copies of eight prints in the Canaletto-Visentini Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum (I: vi, vii, xi, xiii, xiv; II: 12; III: i, xi), and copies of three prints in Marieschi’s Magnificentiores selectioresque urbis Venetiarum prospectus (nos. 5, 11, 16).30 Thereafter, Brustolon copied two more of the Canaletto–Visentini views (II: 8, 11) and one of Marieschi’s (no. 4). He also made eight original etchings, deriving five from recent works by Canaletto and three from works ascribed to Giambattista and Giuseppe Moretti.31 This full complement of twenty-two views is only found however in copies assembled circa 1778 and thereafter, in which the prints are in second state.32

Consul Joseph Smith: promoter of the edition?

Legends on the frontispiece indicate that it was etched by Brustolon after a drawing by the painter-etcher-architect Antonio Visentini (1688–1782), who for fifty years had been working more or less exclusively for the British consul in Venice, Joseph Smith (1682–1770), and was thoroughly involved in Smith’s publishing activities. Visentini had etched the set of fourteen prints after paintings by Canaletto which Smith had privately published, in 1735, as Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum; and also the twenty-four prints added to the set, in 1742, for the new edition issued by the Smith-Pasquali partnership. The drawing which Brustolon copied for the frontispiece of the Prospectuum aedium is in the late Baroque-quasi Rococo style practised by Visentini at the end of the 1740s,33 and probably was chosen for its resemblance to the frontispiece of the Canaletto-Visentini publication. Smith possessed many hundreds of Visentini’s drawings (a large quantity was sold to George iii in 1762 and is now divided between Windsor and the British Library) and it is tempting to speculate that he supplied this one to Furlanetto.

Since 1730, Smith had acted as Canaletto’s chief patron and agent in Venice, purveying his work to English visitors and, by means of the Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum – engravings of paintings Smith either held in stock, or could supply in other versions – to potential clients unable to see the originals for themselves. All the views in the 1735 edition were owned by Smith, and that publication is rightly considered as a catalogue of his wares. In the enlarged, second edition of 1742, only some of the views added to the series were owned by Smith, and the originals of most of these had been sold before publication. The 1742 edition thus appears to have been issued mainly for the benefit of Canaletto, who owing to political instability in Europe and the consequent decline in tourism was obtaining very few commissions in Venice (he shortly would try his luck in England). The unchanged reprint of 1751 likewise may be seen as an attempt by Smith to boost Canaletto’s career, after the disappointment the latter received in London.

By the early 1760s, Smith’s deepening financial troubles permitted him to acquire very little of Canaletto’s work (from 1756–1757 only drawings, and nothing after 1762).34 In March 1760, he was compelled to terminate his long-standing support of the Pasquali press,35 and it became impossible for him either to advertise his wares or to promote Canaletto in his former way. Did Smith then begin to use Furlanetto for these purposes?

If the Prospectuum aedium was indeed presented to Doge Foscarini during his brief tenure (elected 31 May 1762; died 31 March 1763), then Brustolon must have set to work on the initial group of twelve plates in 1761, or spring 1762 at the latest. In the earlier year Smith had commenced negotiations for the sale of his collections to George iii (agreement was reached in May 1762 and first payment obtained 17 March 1763).36 It may be no coinci­dence that of the small selection of prints copied by Brustolon from the Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum (ten of its thirty-eight views), the original paintings of no fewer than six were hanging at this time in Smith’s palazzo on the Canal Grande,37 and the original (the only known autograph version) of another print quite possibly was there also.38

The early provenance of the multiple versions of the three remaining pictures is incomplete. The presumed originals of two prints (a pair) are believed to have been sold by Smith in the 1730s to the 4th Duke of Leeds;39 however versions corresponding with the Visentini prints exist, and it could be that Smith held in his ‘stock’ a pair of these (in the posthumous sale of Smith’s possessions by Christie’s in 1776, no less than sixteen Venetian vedute by Canaletto were offered, mostly pairs, all imprecisely described).40 The original of the last print can not be decided among the numerous versions known,41 but it too is likely to have been hanging in Smith’s palazzo. The Prospectuum aedium thus has the appearance of another ‘catalogue’ of Smith’s stock. If Smith did not in fact underwrite its publication, it certainly was an opportune advertisement of his taste.

Since Smith had not bothered to protect his copyright in the Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum, Furlanetto could freely publish copies of Visentini’s prints. Marieschi’s im­ages were likewise unprotected, as the original privilege (granted for ten years) had since expired. Thus with little effort Furlanetto might have produced a suite of replica views destined for the tourist market, and indeed a mundane publication of that sort would have conformed with his others. Furlanetto – or a silent promoter of his publication – clearly had higher ambitions: a work equal in stature with the Canaletto-Visentini views, dedicated – like the published views of Carlevarijs – to the then-reigning Doge. Brustolon was commis­sioned to make larger versions of the Canaletto–Visentini views, not mere copies; later he was asked for five prints after works by Canaletto never before engraved, and another three original prints after works by Canaletto’s imitators, the Moretti brothers. Only Brustolon’s four prints after Marieschi were routine copies and it is notable that the legends on these plates do not identify their designer.

In his two series of etchings reproducing Canaletto’s drawings of the ‘Feste dogali’ and Roman views, Brustolon is a faithful copyist, following his exemplars in almost every detail.42 His versions of the ten Canaletto-Visentini vedute are anomalous: here Brustolon alters the proportions of his models, and fills the additional space with imaginary exten­sions of Canaletto’s architecture and objects, and new objects and figures.

In ‘Pons Rivoalti ad Occidentem’, for example, Brustolon introduces into water which Canaletto left vacant a laden barge (left), an almost complete new gondola (centre), and the prow of another gondola (right); in ‘Bucentaurus et Nundinae Venetae in die Ascensionis’, he adds more of the Zecca (left), more of the buildings on the Riva degli Schiavoni (right), and inserts the prows of two boats (left); in ‘Certamen nauticum’, his additions include two figures lounging on the festival macchina (left) and two boats transporting eight figures (foreground); and in ‘Qua Late patet S. Marci area major S. Jeminiani templum versus’ he shows more of the base of the Campanile (left), more of the canvas-covered booth for a stall-holder (right), and inserts a pair of figures (centre) and single figure selling from a basket (right). The other six prints depending from Canaletto–Visentini vedute are similarly enhanced. Although these new objects and figures conceivably were Brustolon’s own inventions, it is more likely he either was supplied with drawings to copy – the finger of suspicion points toward Smith, who had collected drawings by Canaletto related to the paintings sold by him43 – or was helped by one of Canaletto’s studio assistants.

The five etchings Brustolon made after recent works by Canaletto lend credence to the con­jecture that the Prospectuum aedium was instigated by Smith to revive Canaletto’s career. After Canaletto’s return from England, in late 1755 or early 1756, his most important commission was for four paintings from Sigismund Streit, a German merchant resident in Venice. The dates of execution of the four paintings are uncertain; however in 1763 all were sent by Streit to his old school ‘Zum Grauen Kloster’ in Berlin. Brustolon etched three of the views painted by Canaletto for Streit: ‘Festival on the Eve of Sta Marta’, its pendant ‘Night Festival at S. Pietro in Castello’, and ‘Campo di Rialto’.44 The legends on the latter two prints indicate that they were etched from intermediary drawings prepared by Giambattista and Giuseppe Moretti (on both, however, Brustolon omits mention of Canaletto’s authorship).45

Fig. 1 Regatta on the Grand Canal, etching and engraving by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (325 × 465 mm, platemark)
Fig. 2 Festa del Redentore, etching and engraving by Brustolon after Canaletto (320 × 447 mm, platemark)

Another etching depicts ‘The Procession to the Redentore over the bridge of boats’. Although inscribed Antonius Canal pinxit, the term pinxit should not be literally construed: the print in fact relates to a small drawing of circa 1756–1760 in one of Canaletto’s sketch-books (the Algarotti-Corniani–Viggiano album, sheet 11).46 No intermediary draughtsman is named on the print. The fifth etching – found in sets of the prints assembled circa 1778 and thereafter – reproduces ‘The Fondamenta Nuove and Sta Maria del Pianto’, one of Canaletto’s last view paintings of Venice, probably executed circa 1763.47

Three of Brustolon’s original prints are not associated with known works by Canaletto. One is a moonlit view of the ‘Procession of the Doge to the island of S. Giorgio on Christmas Night’; another depicts in daylight ‘S. Giacomo di Rialto seen from the Campo di Rialto’. These views are credited in legends on the prints to Giambattista and Giuseppe Moretti, with Brustolon using in the latter case (probably inexactly) the term pinxit. A third etching – found in sets of the prints assembled circa 1778 and thereafter – reproduces ‘The Rialto Bridge from the South’ and is inscribed Jo. Bap. Moretti pinx.48

The problems of Canaletto’s school and studio practice remain for the most part unsolved. Giambattista and Giuseppe Moretti both imitated Canaletto’s manner with consummate skill, however despite the persuasive evidence of these prints, it is not known whether either or both worked as his studio assistants. Giambatistta appears in the register of Venetian painters (‘Fraglie dei Pittori’) in 1732–1744; in 1748 he reputedly painted the curtain for the Teatro S. Samuele; in the 1750s he produced designs for book illustrations; and he later made drawings for printmakers, including copies of vedute by Francesco Tironi (etched by Antonio Sandi and published by Furlanetto).49 The younger Giuseppe was a decorative and theatrical scene painter also, teaching as well as practising (Pietro Gonzaga and Fyodor Alekseyev are among those he is said to have instructed). He was elected to the Accademia Veneziana di Pittura e Scultore in 1772, presenting as his reception piece a ‘Capriccio with the Library’.50 Most probably Giuseppe is the I. Moretti who drew in 1782 for the engraver Antonio Baratti a nocturnal view of the arena of the Piazza S. Marco deco­rated for a visit by the Conti del Nord.51

Publication history of the Prospectuum aedium

Each print of the Prospectuum aedium is known in four states: the first state is before numeration of the matrices by Furlanetto (all the prints in the present album are in this state), the second state circa 1778 is after Furlanetto’s numeration (1–22, at lower right), the third state circa 1791 carries the publication line Apud Theodorum Viero in Via Mercatoria vulgo dicta dell’orologio c.p.e.s. and has the plates reorganised and renumbered (lower left),52 and the fourth state has a new publication line Presso G.[iuseppe] Battaggia in Venezia and is dated 1830. An impression of ‘Pons Rivoalti ad Occidentem’ with altered caption Antonius Canal Pinxit. P.V. may indicate the existence of yet another state.53

The earliest issue of the Prospectuum aedium is represented by the aforementioned dedica­tion copy containing the frontispiece and eleven prints, bound in red morocco with arms of Doge Marco Foscarini on covers. As no other copy with same contents is known,54 it may be supposed that Brustolon completed additional plates almost immediately, enabling Furlanetto to soon offer copies containing the (unaltered) frontispiece and twenty views. One such copy in a contemporary binding is known to us.55

In 1766 Furlanetto obtained a privilege for publishing the series of prints of the ‘Feste dogali’ and by August 1768 four prints had been completed. The next issues of the Prospectuum aedium contain the frontispiece and twenty plates bound together with vary­ing numbers of the ‘Feste dogali’ prints, ultimately with all twelve prints (the last of these was not certainly completed until circa 1777–1779).56

The ‘Feste dogali’ prints were struck by Furlanetto in two states (the first before numbers and the second after numeration of the prints 1–12, which presumably was undertaken when all twelve matrices had been completed). The album here offered for sale contains print no. 1 of the ‘Feste dogali’ suite and most probably was assembled in the late 1760s or early 1770s, just before Furlanetto added the two additional views to the set.57 The succeed­ing issues presumably are those which offer either the twenty-one views (as advertised in the aforementioned stocklist of circa 1778)58 or the full complement of twenty-two views.

In the 1780s Furlanetto began publication of Ventiquattro prospettive delle Isola della Laguna di Venezia, a suite of etchings by Antonio Sandi after Francesco Tironi. The suc­ceeding issues contain the prints of the Prospectuum aedium in their second (numbered) state, bound with varying numbers of Sandi’s prints (seven were completed by 1782,59 and the rest by about 1785),60 and sometimes with other Furlanetto publications as well.61

further references Leopoldo Cicognara, Catalogo ragionato dei libri d’arte e d’antichità (Pisa 1821), no. 3978 (album of seventy-two prints, including ‘le dodici bellissime vedute di Canaletto tratte da’luoghi interni, ed esterni di Venezia, intagliate da Gio. Batt. Brustolon’ apparently in Teodoro Viero’s edition); Charles Le Blanc, Manuel de l’amateur d’estampes (Paris 1850), i, p.535, nos. 17–46 (‘Suite de 20 pièces’)

Bibliography

alpago novello
Luigi Alpago Novello, ‘Gli incisori bellunesi. Saggio storico-bibliografico’ in Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti 99 (1939–1940), pp.471–716

bettagno
Canaletto: Disegni, dipinti, incisioni, catalogue of an exhibition in Fondazione Cini, Venice, essays by Alessandro Bettagno [et al.] (Vicenza 1982)

borroni
Fabia Borroni, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, 14 (Rome 1972), pp.726–728

cassini
Giocondo Cassini, Piante e vedute prospettiche di Venezia 1479–1855 (Venice 1982)

constable-links
William G. Constable, Canaletto. Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697–1768, revised by Joseph G. Links (Oxford 1989)

gallo
Rodolfo Gallo, L’Incisione nel ’700 a Venezia e a Bassano (Venice 1941)

ingamells
John Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish travellers in Italy, 1701–1800 (New Haven 1997)

kowalczyk
Canaletto. Prima Maniera, catalogue of an exhibition held at Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, 18 March–10 June 2001, edited by Bozena Anna Kowalczyk (Milan 2001)

links 1967
Joseph G. Links, ‘A Missing Canaletto found’ in The Burlington Magazine 109 (1967), pp.405–409

marco ricci e gli incisori bellunesi
Alberto Alpago Novello, ‘Giunte alle schede delle opere degli “incisori bellunesi”’ in Marco Ricci e gli incisori bellunesi del ’700 e ’800, catalogue of an exhibition in the Auditorium di Belluno (Bulluno 1968)

marini
Giorgio Marini, ‘“Stampe da studio, più che da galleria”. Le incisioni di Casa Rosmini e alcuni aspetti del collezionismo di grafica nel tardo Settecento’ in Le Collezioni di stampe e di libri di Ambrogio Rosmini (1741–1818) (Rovereto 1997)

montecuccoli degli erri 1999
Federico Montecuccoli degli Erri and Filippo Pedrocco, Michele Marieschi: la vita, l’ambiente, l’opera (Milan 1999)

pellegrini
Tiepolo Canaletto Piranesi e altri: incisioni venete del Settecento dei Musei civici di Padova, catalo­gue of an exhibition in the Palazzo del Monte, Padua, 12 June–20 July 1997, edited by Franca Pellegrini (Padua 1997)

romanelli
Giandomenico Romanelli and Susanna Biadene, Venezia piante e vedute. Catalogo del fondo carto­grafico a stampa, catalogue of an exhibition held at Museo Correr, Venice, April 1982 (Venice 1982)

schulz
Jürgen Schulz, Printed plans and panoramic views of Venice (Florence 1970)

succi 1983
Dario Succi, Da Carlevarijs ai Tiepolo: Incisori veneti e friulani del Settecento, catalogue of an exhi­bition held in Gorizia and Venice (Venice 1983)

succi 1986
Dario Succi, Canaletto & Visentini – Venezia & Londra, catalogue of an exhibition held in Cà Pesaro, Galleria internazionale d’arte moderna, Venice, 18 October 1986–6 January 1987 ([Venice] 1986)

succi 1987
Dario Succi, Michiel Marieschi: catalogo ragionato dell’opera incisa (Turin 1987)

vivian
Frances Vivian, The Consul Smith Collection: masterpieces of Italian drawing from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle (Munich 1989)

List of prints

■ Frontispiece, etching and engraving (matrice 325 × 465 mm) by Brustolon after a (lost?) drawing by Antonio Visentini, legends Antonius Visentini inv. | Jo. Bapta Brustolon inc. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.564; succi 1983 p.84 no. 53

■ The Bucintoro returning to the Molo on Ascension Day, etching and engraving (matrice 318 × 460 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Bucentaurus et Nundinae Venetae in die Ascensionis’ in Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1735, pl. xiv; 1742 and 1751, i, pl. xiv), leg­ends Bucentaurus et Nundinae Venetae in die Ascensionis | Antonius Canal Pinxit | Joannes Baptista Brustoloni sculpsit. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.566 no. [16]; marco ricci e gli incisori bellunesi no. 65; constable-links pp.673–674 (not seen). Original: constable-links no. 335; succi 1986 no. 18

■ S. Giorgio with the church and quay in sharp perspective, etching and engraving (matrice 317 × 455 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Marieschi (‘Ingressus in Urbem venienti e Clodia, cum insula S. Georgij maioris… cum proxima ripa Illijricorum’ in Magnificentiores selectioresque urbis Venetiarum prospectus, 1741, pl.16), legends S. Georgii Majoris Ecclesiae Prospectus. | Jo. Bap. Brustoloni sculp. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.566 no. [15]; constable-links p.673 no. 6. Original: constable-links no. 303; succi 1987 no. 6; montecuccoli degli erri 1999 p.176 no. 16

■ Piazza S. Marco looking West, etching and engraving (matrice 325 × 460 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Areae majoris S. Marci Prospectus ad Templum S. Jeminiani’ in Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1742 and 1751, iii, pl. xi), legends Qua Late patet S. Marci area major S. Jeminiani templum versus. | Antonius Canal del. e depix. | Joannes Baptista Brustoloni sculpsit. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello pp.564–565 no. [3]; constable-links pp.673–674 (not seen). Original: constable-links no. 23; succi 1986 no. 41

■ Riva degli Schiavoni, looking East, etching and engraving (matrice 330 × 464 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Prospectus a Columna S. Marci ad Ripam Dalmatarum vulgo de Schiavoni’ in Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1742 and 1751, ii, pl.11), legends A. minore D: Marci Area Dalmatarum ripam exhibens Prospectus. | Antonius Canal Pinxit. | Joan. Bapta Brustoloni sculpsit. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.564 no. [1]; constable-links p.673 no. 2. Original: constable-links no. 113; succi 1986 no. 29

■ Piazza S. Marco looking East, etching and engraving (matrice 320 × 460 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Marieschi (‘Forum maius D: Marci… vulgo veteribus ad laevam’ in Magnificentiores selectioresque urbis Venetiarum prospectus, 1741, pl.4), legends Prospectus Plateae Divi Marci Venetiarum, et ejusdem Basilicae cum aedibus D. Marci Procuratorum | Joannes Baptista Brustoloni sculpsit. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.564 no. [2]. constable-links p.674 no. 19. Original: succi 1987 no. 2; montecuccoli degli erri 1999 p.164 no. 4

■ SS. Giovanni e Paolo and the Monument to Bartolommeo Colleoni, etching and engraving (matrice 325 × 465 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Platea SS. Johannis et Pauli eorum Tem­plum et Schola D. Marci’ in Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1742 and 1751, iii, pl. i), legends Templum SS Jo: et Paulo sacrum, D: Marci Scholae Aedes equestre Barthol: Coleoni de R P opt: in: monum: | Jo. Bap. Brustoloni sculp. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
constable-links p.674 no. 21; marco ricci e gli incisori bellunesi p.63. Original: constable-links no. 308; succi 1986 no. 31

■ Courtyard of the Ducal Palace looking North, etching and engraving (matrice 465 × 325 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Marieschi (‘Magnificum Aedium… D. Marci supereminentes’ in Magnificentiores selectioresque urbis Venetiarum prospectus, 1741, pl.5), legends Magnificum Ducale impluvium longe elegantissimum in cuius extrema parte D: Marci Basilicae testudines supereminent. | Jo. Bap. Brustoloni sculp. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.565 no. [4]; constable-links pp.673–674 (not seen). Original: succi 1987 no. 3; montecuccoli degli erri 1999 p.165 no. 5

■ Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge from the North, etching and engraving (matrice 318 × 458 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Pons Rivolalti ad Occidentem cum Sedibus Publicis utri­que Lateri Adjectis’ in Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1735, pl. vii; 1742 and 1751, i, pl. vii), legends Pons Rivoalti ad Occidentem, cum Aedibus Publicis utrique Lateri adjectis | Antonius Canal Pinxit. | Joannes Baptista Brustoloni sculpsit | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.565 no. [7]; constable-links pp.673–674 (not seen). Original: constable-links no. 236; succi 1986 no. 11

■ Regatta on the Grand Canal, etching and engraving (matrice 325 × 465 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Nauticum Certamen cum Prospectu ab Aedibus Balborum, ad Pontem Rivoalti’ in Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1735, pl. xii; 1742 and 1751, i, pl. xiii), legends Certamen nauticum a Balborum aedibus ad Rivoalti pontem usque percurrens. | Antonius Canal Pinxit | Jo. Bap. Brustoloni sculp. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.566 no. [17]; marco ricci e gli incisori bellunesi no. 70; constable-links p.674 no. 14. Original: constable-links no. 347; succi 1986 no. 17
See Fig. 1

■ Festival on the Eve of St. Martha (29 July), etching and engraving (matrice 327 × 462 mm) by Brustolon after a painting by Canaletto (evidently via an intermediate drawing, perhaps supplied by Moretti), legends Nocte Festum Sanctae Marthae praecedente Piscatorum Navilia facibus ornata, eodem favente Austro, huc, illuc per aequora discurrunt. | Antonius Canal pinxit | Jo. Bap. Brustolon inc. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.567 no. [21] (third state, printed by Teodoro Viero, numbered 22); marco ricci e gli incisori bellunesino. 68 (second state, printed by Furlanetto, numbered 9); constable-links pp.673–674 no. 9; Aspetti dell’incisione veneziana nel Settecento, catalogue of an exhibition in the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro, Venice, edited by Gianvittorio Dillon (Venice 1976), no. 48 (repro­duced); succi 1983 p.84 no. 54; pellegrini pp.66–67 no. 22 (third state, printed by Teodoro Viero, numbered 22). Original: constable-links no. 360; Erich Schleier, in bettagno p.87

■ S. Giacomo di Rialto seen from the Campo di Rialto, etching and engraving (matrice 333 × 435 mm) by Brustolon after a drawing or painting by Moretti, legends Prospectus Plateae et Ecclesiae Sancti Jacobi prope Pontem Rivi alti. | Jo. Bap. Moretti et Filii del. e Pinx. | Jo. Bap. Brustoloni sculp. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.565 no. [10]; constable-links p.674 no. 16; succi 1983 p.87 no. 58

■ Grand Canal, looking South-West from the Chiesa degli Scalzi to the Fondamenta della Croce, with S. Simeone Piccolo, etching and engraving (matrice 325 × 462 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Hinc ex F.F. Discalceatorum, illinc ex S. Simeone Minore usque ad Fullonium’ in Pro­spectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1735, pl. xi; 1742 and 1751, i, pl. xi), legends Dextrorsum Theresiani sinistrorsum S. Simeon Parvus atq: Fullonium. | Antonius Canal del. e pinx. | Joannes Baptista Brustoloni sculpsit. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.565 no. [11]; constable-links pp.673–674 (not seen). Original: constable-links no. 258; succi 1986 no. 15

■ The Arsenal and the Campo di Arsenale, etching and engraving (matrice 315 × 457 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Marieschi (‘Magni Armamentarij Veneziarum portae duae, artificibus altera, altera navibus duplex aditus’ in Magnificentiores selectioresque urbis Venetiarum prospectus, 1741, pl.11), legends Magni Armamentarij Venetiarum Portae duae, artificibus altera, altera navibus duplex aditus | Joannes Baptista Brustoloni sculpsit | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello pp.565–566 no. [12]; marco ricci e gli incisori bellunesi no. 67 (wrongly as after Canaletto); constable-links pp.673–674 (not seen). Original: succi 1987 no. 9; montecuccoli degli erri 1999 p.171 no. 11

■ Entrance to the Grand Canal looking West, etching and engraving (matrice 320 × 460 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Caput Canalis et Ingressus in Urbem’ in Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1735, pl. vi; 1742 and 1751, i, pl. vi), legends Canalis majoris caput qua Venetias ingreditur. | Antonius Canal Pinxit | Jo. Bap. Brustoloni sculp. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.566 no. [13]; constable-links p.673 no. 4. Original: constable-links no. 161; succi 1986 no. 10

■ Festa del Redentore, showing the Bridge of Boats leading to the Redentore across the Giudecca Canal (celebrated third Sunday of July), etching and engraving (matrice 320 × 447 mm) by Brustolon after Canaletto, legends Populi frequentia nocturna, et exultatio prope Ecclesiam Ssmi Redemptoris in Judaica, ejusdem contingente perviglio. | Antonius Canal pinxit. | Jo. Bap. Brustolon inc. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.566 no. [18] (third state, printed by Teodoro Viero, numbered 23); constable-links p.673 no. 8; succi 1983 p.86 no. 56. Original: constable-links no. 644 pl.118
See Fig. 2

■ Procession of the Doge to the island of S. Giorgio on Christmas Night, etching and engraving (matrice 335 × 460 mm) by Brustolon after a painting or drawing by Moretti, legends Vesperi Diei Nativitatis Domini. Principe, Senatu comitante, auratis Naviliis Regio apparatu ad Ecclesiam S. Georgii Majoris proficiscente, Populus undequaque confluit. | Jo. Bap. Moretti et Filii del. e Pinx. | Jo. Bap. Brustoloni sculp. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.566 no. [19] (third state, printed by Teodoro Viero, numbered 21); constable-links p.674 no. 11; succi 1983 pp.86–87 no. 57; pellegrini pp.68–69 no. 23 (third state, printed by Teodoro Viero, numbered 21)

■ The Molo, looking West, depicting the Library and the Column of St. Theodore, etching and engraving (matrice 325 × 465 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Prospectus a Columna S. Theodori ad Ingressum Magni Canalis’ in Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1742 and 1751, ii, pl.12), legends A publica Bibliotheca ad majoris Canalis initium prospectus | Antonius Canal Pinxit | Jo. Bap. Brustoloni sculp. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.565 no. [5]; marco ricci e gli incisori bellunesi no. 66; constable-links p.673 no. 3. Original: constable-links no. 95; succi 1986 no. 30

■ Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge from the South, etching and engraving (matrice 325 × 460 mm) by Brustolon after an etching by Visentini (‘Pons Rivoalti ad Orientem’ in Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarium, 1742 and 1751, ii, pl.8), legends Pons Rivoalti, utrinque Ripae, et Aedes ad Orientem. | Antonius Canal Pinxit. | Joan. Bapta Brustoloni sculpsit | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum
alpago novello p.565 no. [6] (third state, printed by Teodoro Viero, numbered 11); constable-links p.674 no. 12. Original: constable-links no. 228; succi 1986 no. 26

■ Night Festival at S. Pietro di Castello (eve of the Feast Day of SS. Peter and Paul, 28 July), etching and engraving (matrice 325 × 455 mm) by Brustolon after Canaletto (via an intermediary drawing by Moretti), legends Nocturna populi exultatio in pervigilio Sancti Petri Apostoli prope limina Patriarchalis Ecclesiae, vulgo Sancti Petri de Castello. | Jo. Bap. Moretti et Filii del. | Jo. Bap. Brustolon sculp. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.567 no. [20]; constable-links p.674 no. 10; succi 1983 p.86 no. 55; pellegrini pp.63–65 no. 21 (third state, printed by Teodoro Viero, numbered 24). Original: constable-links no. 359 (‘It is likely Moretti based a drawing for the engraving on the painting’, p.372)

■ The newly elected Doge presented to the people in S. Marco, etching and engraving (matrice 450 × 570 mm) by Brustolon after a drawing by Canaletto, from the series of twelve prints of Ducal Ceremo­nies and Festivals legends Serenisimmus Venetiarum Dux, recens renuntiatus, a Seniori ex xli. electoribus in Ducali Basilica populo conspiciendus proponitur. Hinc sella gestatoria (vulgo il pozzo) ascensa, per majorem plateam D. Marci circumvehitur; ac postmodum in aulam reductus coronatur. | Antonius Canal pinxit. | Jo. Bap. Brustolon inc. | Apud Ludovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri Cum Privilegio Exellentissimi [sic] Senatus. | No. 1.
alpago novello p.563; constable-links p.673; succi 1983 pp.88–89 no. 59 (second state of four). Original: constable-links no. 630.

■ Campo di S. Giacomo di Rialto with Armenian and Jewish merchants, etching and engraving (matrice 335 × 455 mm) by Brustolon after a drawing or painting by Moretti, legends Prospectus Plateae ad Divum Iacobum de Rivoalto ubi Mercatores conveniunt. | Jo. Bap. Moretti et Filii del. e Pinx. | Jo. Bap. Brustoloni inc. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri ad Insigne S.M. Gratiarum C.P.E.S.
alpago novello p.565 no. [9]; marco ricci e gli incisori bellunesi no. 69; constable-links p.674 no. 20. Original: constable-links nos. 282 (painting by Canaletto of circa 1758) and 282[c] (a drawing – not by Canaletto – in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, corresponding ‘in every point except in the figures’ with Brustolon’s print, p.329).

Abbreviated references are expanded in bibliography.

1. ‘S. Georgii Majoris Ecclesiae Prospectus’, ‘Prospectus Plateae Divi Marci’, ‘Dextrorsum Theresiani sinistrorsum S. Simeon Parvus atq: Fullonium’, ‘Magni Armamentarij’, ‘Vesperi Diei Nativitatis Domini’.

2. Brustolon adds almost 2% on each side, more sky, and about 10% to the bottom of the original views (his etched views measure 280/283 × 430/434 mm on matrices 434/445 × 447/465 mm, whereas the views in Visentini’s Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum measure 251/254 × 420/424 mm on matri­ces 270/277 × 426/436 mm).

3. The etched views in Marieschi’s Magnificentiores selectioresque urbis venetiarum prospectus meas­ure 288/308 × 441/464 mm on matrices 300/317 × 445/470 mm.

4. Terisio Pignatti, ‘Canaletto e la incisione di Vedute a Venezia nel Settecento’ in Bollettino dei Musei Civici Veneziani 13 (no. 2, 1968), p.8. Brustolon accomplished ‘the difficult task of reproducing the different tonalities of the master’s wash effects’ with ‘variations of line and the use of crosshatching, in addition to multiple acid bitings on controlled parts of the copperplate’ (Ruth Bromberg, in Glory of Venice: art in the eighteenth century, catalogue of an exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, edited by Jane Martineau & Andrew Robison, New Haven 1994, p.433).

5. Mari Pietrogiovanna, in pellegrini p.62.

6. Federico Montecuccoli degli Erri, ‘Novità biografiche sull’incisore Giambattista Brustolon, bellu­nese’ in Ateneo Veneto, new series, 35 (1997), pp.157–166; another digestion of these documents is Cristina Romanenghi, ‘Alcune novità su Giambattista Brustolon’ in Grafica d’arte 8 (no. 30, April–June 1997), pp.10–11. For the traditional account, see borroni pp.726–728.

7. Letter printed by Osvald Sirén, Dessins et tableaux de la Renaissance italienne dans les collections de Suède (Stockholm 1902), pp.107–109; see also, Per Bjurström, ‘A Canaletto that Tessin acquired in Venice in 1737’ in Nationalmuseum Bulletin Stockholm 4 (1980), pp.111–115, identifying several of the pictures mentioned in this letter, but not the ‘Deux têtes par Burstaloni’.

8. Portrait and vignettes in Nicolò Costantini, Memorie istoriche, critiche, morali, concernenti la vita del beato Giordano Forzate (Tullia Gasparrini Leporace, Il libro illustrato nel Settecento a Venezia, catalogue of an exhibition in the Biblioteca nazionale Marciana, Venice 1955, no.27). Pitteri’s engraved device of Fortune with personifications of the Arts and Sciences, signed by Brustolon, came into use at the same time (in Annibale Antonini, Dictionnaire italien, latin, et françois, 1745). Brustolon’s earliest print is mistakenly identified by alpago novello pp.569–570 as a portrait of Francesco Beretta, in Beretta’s Principj di filosofia cristiana (Padua, Giovanni Antonio & Gaetano Volpi for Giuseppe Comino, 1730). No copy of that book containing a print by Brustolon is known to the writer; however, a portrait of Beretta by Brustolon (matrice 210 × 134 mm, legends Franciscus Comes Beretta | Patritius Utinensis | Piet. Ant. Novelli del. | Gio. Batta Brustolon inc) illustrates Beretta’s Dello scisma de’ tre capitoli particolarmente in cio che appartiene alla storia del Friuli opera postuma (Venice, Tommaso Bettinelli, 1770). The copy of Beretta’s Principj seen by Alpago Novello may have been extra-illustrated by this later print.

9. On 29 September 1780, Brustolon applied for a privilege to publish twenty-two large views of Rome after drawings by Canaletto in an album which he had obtained from the artist’s heirs (the drawings, mostly now in the British Museum, are autograph works, made during Canaletto’s visit to Rome in 1719–1720; see kowalczyk pp.20, 26–37, nos. 2–13). Judging by their present rarity, the prints were unsaleable (succi 1983 pp.8283, note 5).

10. gallo p.10; schulz pp.82–83 no. 116 (reproducing Baroni’s edition).

11. gallo p.60 (Documento vi).

12. Representative of Furlanetto’s inventory are an etching (matrice 120 × 76 mm) by Cristoforo dall’Acqua, legends S. Bartholomaeus Ap. Armeniae | C. Dall’Acqua fec. | Ven.a: Lud.co Ful.to sul Ponte de’ Barretteri; and an etching and engraving (matrice 218 × 147 mm) by Giacomo Leonardis after Domenico Maggiotto, legends B. Hieronymus Aemilianus | congregationis clericorum regu- | larium de somascha fundator | Domi. Majotto pinx. | Jac. Leonardis sculp. Ven. | In Venezia: per Lodovico Furlanetto sopra il Ponte de Baretteri con privilegio (impressions reproduced on website of Gabinetto delle Stampe ‘Angelo Davoli’, Biblioteca Panizzi, Reggio Emilia, Inv.5278, 8261).

13. This stocklist accompanied Furlanetto’s application, in 1779, for a blanket privilege for sixteen publications, and is known only through a contemporary transcription; see gallo pp.3941; succi 1986 pp.382–384, docs.42–47.

14. Copy reproduced by marini p.101 fig.49, where dated circa 1775; another copy (Archivio di Stato di Venezia) is cited by succi 1986 p.152, where dated circa 1778.

15. Il Crocefisso dipinto da Carlo Lebrun (Catalogo 1779).

16. Il S. Francesco del Balestra (Catalogo 1779).

17. La Battaglia de Pugni dei K.r Pietro Liberi, in 3 Fogli Imp.li (Catalogo 1779): perhaps from the matrice of Domenico Rosetti (Charles Le Blanc, Manuel de l’amateur d’estampes, Paris 1854, iii, p.363, no. 18).

18. La Cena di Paolo Veronese in S. Giorgio Magiore (Catalogo 1779), … en deux Feuilles (Catalogue 1778); also L’autre Cene du même Paul Veronais en trois Feuilles, qui orne le Refectoire du Couvent S.S. Jean & Paul de Venise (Catalogue 1778).

19. Il Paradiso del Tintoretto nella Sala del Gran Consiglio (Catalogo 1779), … en papier Imperial (Catalogue 1778): perhaps from the matrice of Francesco Zucchi (Maria Agnese Chiari Moretto Wiel, Jacopo Tintoretto e i suoi incisori, catalogue of an exhibition held in the Palazzo Ducale, Venice, [Milan] 1994, no. 70).

20. The Icones ad vivum expressae, a suite of fifteen prints by Giovanni Cattini after paintings and draw­ings by Piazzetta, some of which were owned by the British consul in Venice, Joseph Smith. This suite had been first published in 1743 at the press of Giambattista Pasquali, then financed and operated by Smith, and after Smith’s death (6 November 1770) Furlanetto had acquired the original matrices from his widow (Maria Agnese Chiari Moretto Wiel, L’eredità di Piazzetta. Volti e figure nell’incisione del Settecento, catalogue of an exhibition held in the Palazzo Ducale, Venice 1996, pp.40–55, nos. 68–83).

21. Il Gran Piano Iconografico di Venezia in 13 fogli (Catalogo 1779): schulz no. 117; cassini no. 72; romanelli no. 72.

22.Detta in due Fogli (Catalogo 1779): probably the map recorded in editions dated 1747 (schulz no. 121, cassini no. 86, romanelli no. 77), 1787 (schulz nos. 122–123, cassini no. 91), and 1797 (schulz no. 124).

23.Detta in Elevazione in due Fogli (Catalogo 1779): probably the map (copied from Stefano Scolari’s 1667 plan) described by schulz no. 106 (as two sheets of 578 × 489 mm), cassini no. 85, romanelli no. 85.

24. Nuova Pianta di Venezia con il circondario delle lagune, Isole, e sbocadure de Fiume non sogeta a scala, in No 4 Fogli Impariali (Catalogo 1779; not in Catalogue 1778): probably Laguna Veneta | Mappa topografica | in cui a venti e misure dimostrasi il circondario della Lagu | na Veneta con tutte le addiacenti respettive Valli in essa contenute | … | Apresso Lodovico Furlanetto sul ponte dei Baretteri con Privilegio del Eccelentissimo Senato 1780, described by romanelli no. 89, cassini no. 89 (as 720 × 1365 mm, assembled).

25. No 38 Vedute nel giro del Canal Grande, being impressions from the Canaletto-Visentini matrices, originally published in 1735 and 1742, obtained by Furlanetto from Consul Smith’s widow together with other matrices (see note 20 above) and undistributed prints pulled from them. He first published the set in 1773, adding a deceptive publication line Apud Ludovicum Furlanetto supra pontem vulgo dictum dei Barettieri ad insigne S.M. Gratiarum. C.P.E.S. mdcclxxiii, when no such privilege had been granted; see Dario Succi, ‘Elenco delle edizioni delle prospettive di Venezia’ in I rami di Visentini per le vedute di Venezia del Canaletto, catalogue of an exhibition held in the Museo Correr, Venice, edited by Giulio Lari (Bergamo 1990); and Antonia Nessi, in Une Venise de papier: La cité des Doges à l’époque de Canaletto et Tiepolo, chefs-d’œuvre d’une collection d’estampes vénitiennes du xviiie siècle, catalogue of an exhibition in the Cabinet Cantonal des Estampes, Musée Jenisch, Vevey (Milan 2005), p.123 (the publication history is misunderstood by Antony Griffiths, in Print Quarterly 22, 2005, p.312).

26. succi 1986 pp.165–166.

27. Eight prints were offered for sale by subscription in March 1766, although the first print was yet to be published; in May 1766 Furlanetto petitioned for the privilege of publishing a set of twelve prints and four had been produced by 6 August 1766. A subscription offer dated 1777 implies the set was still not complete (reproduced by marini p.100 fig.48). Canaletto-Brustolon: Le feste ducali: Rami e stampe dalle collezioni del Museo Correr, catalogue of an exhibition in Ca’ Rezzonico, Museo del Settecento Veneziano, Venice, 21 April–6 November 2006, edited by Filippo Pedrocco and Camillo Tonini (Venice 2006).

28. Impressions are located by succi 1983 p.83, note 5.

29. For the originals, see succi 1986 pp.151–153, 163–164 and nos. 80–83; constable-links p.668: ‘No examples of Brustoloni’s versions have been found’.

30.Sotheby’s, ‘Continental books and manuscripts’, London, 5 December 1996, lot 5 (consigned as ‘The Property of the Gutzwiller Collection’ and sold for £31,050). The volume contained the frontis­piece and eleven views struck on various papers, including one having as its watermark a large coat of arms emblazoned by a shooting star, 265 × 120 mm, and countermark olanda (similar paper is used in our album for the extraneous print from the ‘Feste dogali’ suite). Without identifying her authority, Borroni states ‘La serie, nata in dodici tavole (6 dal Canaletto, 3 da G.B. Moretti, e 3 senza nome) oltre il frontespizio’ (borroni p.726).

31. In his deposition appended to Furlanetto’s petition for a blanket privilege, in 1779, Brustolon iden­tifies only six of these original prints, those ‘che raprentano [1:] Notti di S. Marta [2:] del Redentore [3:] di S. Giorgio [4:] di S. Pietro di Castello [5:] il Campo di S. Giacomo di Rialto [6:] il Ponte di Rialto verso l’Oriente etc.a’ (gallo pp.41–42). As Brustolon made two original etchings depicting ‘[5:] il Campo di S. Giacomo di Rialto’, namely ‘Prospectus Plateae ad Divum Iacobum de Rivoalto ubi Mercatores conveniunt’ (after Canaletto) and ‘Prospectus Plateae et Ecclesiae Sancti Jacobi prope Pontem Rivi alti’ (after Moretti), one or the other is omitted from this list. The other print omitted from Brustolon’s sworn deposition is ‘Ecclesae [sic] R.R.M.M. Ord. Servorum (vulgo Cappuccine) super ripam dictam Fondamente Nuove Prospectus litora versus’, an original print after Canaletto (see note following).

32. In such copies, the frontispiece – still heralding twelve views – remains unaltered, and the views are numbered 1–22 (at lower right). The arrangement of the views seems arbitrary: the first prints to be etched – those present in the dedication copy (see above note 30) – are placed as numbers 1, 3–7, 14–15, 17–18, 21; the two views which appear in copies of the set assembled after circa 1778 are num­bered 13 and 22. These prints (neither is present in our set) are
(a) The Rialto Bridge, etching and engraving (325 × 465 mm, according to Alpago Novello) by Brustolon after Moretti, legends Superba Moles Pontis Rivoalti ad Orientalem plagam | Jo. Bap. Moretti pinx. | Jo. Bap. Brustolon inc. | Apud Lodovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri C.P.E.S. alpago novello p.565 no. [viii]; constable-links p.674 no. 13.
(b) The Fondamenta Nuove and Sta Maria del Pianto, etching and engraving (326 × 467 mm, according to Alpago Novello) by Brustolon after Canaletto, legends Ecclesae [sic] R.R.M.M. Ord. Servorum (vulgo Cappuccine) super ripam dictam Fondamente Nuove Prospectus litora versus | Antonius Canal Pinxit. | Jo. Bap. Brustolon inc. | Apud Ludovicum Furlanetto supra Pontem vulgo dictum dei Baretteri C.P.E.S. alpago novello p.566 no. [xiv]; constable-links p.674 no. 22. For the original, see constable-links no. 321 (compare p.210 no. 54*).
An intermediate stage of publication may be documented by the aforementioned Furlanetto stocklist of circa 1778 (see above note 14), where twenty-one views and the frontispiece are enumer­ated (no. 22 depicting ‘The Fondamenta Nuove and Sta Maria del Pianto’ is not yet listed).

33. It is close to the title-print of the Raccolta di vari Schizi de ornati di celebre Autore nobilmente perfecionati, accresciuti, et intagliati da Antonio Visentini Veneto (Venice 1747); see succi 1986 no. 84.

34. constable-links p.26.

35.Federico Montecuccoli degli Erri, ‘Il console Smith: Notizie e documenti’ in Ateneo Veneto, new series, 33 (1995), p.125.

36. vivian p.35.

37. These paintings, now at Windsor, are constable-links nos. 161, 236, 258, 347, 335, 308 (respecti­vely Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum, I: vi, vii, xi, xiii, xiv; III: i).

38. constable-links no. 23; Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum III, xi. This picture is one of eight painted by Canaletto in the 1730s and sold by Smith to the Earls Fitzwilliam at uncertain dates (constable-links p.190: ‘Nothing is known as to when they came to Milton Park’). William Wentworth, 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam (1748–1833) is recorded in Venice only in 1767 (ingamells pp.360–361), so it conceivable that this picture was still in Smith’s palazzo in 1763.

39. constable-links nos. 95, 113; Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum II, 11, 12. Thomas Osborne, 4th Duke of Leeds (1713–1789) is recorded in Venice in March–April 1734 and his heir in 1771 (ingamells pp.593, 182–183). Eleven Canaletto’s paintings (including these two) were sold by the family in 1920; as a group, they ‘do not look as if they had been painted as a single commission’, but bought at different times (Joseph G. Links, Canaletto and his patrons, London 1977, p.44).

40. vivian p.39.

41. constable-links no. 228; Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum II, 8.

42. On the accuracy of Brustolon’s transcriptions of these drawings, see constable-links nos. 630–639, 713; F.J.B. Watson, ‘Notes on Canaletto and his engravers’ in The Burlington Magazine 92 (1950), p.292.

43. Joseph G. Links, A supplement to W.G. Constable’s Canaletto (London 1998), p.12, note 121.

44. constable-links nos. 359–360, 282 (for dating, see pp.307–308 no. 342); Erich Schleier, in bettagno pp.79–87; Katharine Baetjer and Joseph G. Links, Canaletto, catalogue of an exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York 1989), pp.269–273.

45. One of these two drawings may be constable-links no. 282[c].

46. constable-links no. 644 and pp.641–642 (for dating see p.308).

47.See above notes 31 and 32.

48. See above note 32.

49. Two of his drawings are reproduced by Veronika Birke, Die italienischen Zeichnungen der Albertina. Generalverzeichnis (Vienna 1994), nos. 1848–1849.

50. Reproduced by links 1977 fig.139.

51. succi 1983 no. 10.

52. Three prints from Viero’s edition are reproduced in pellegrini pp.62–69 nos. 21–23; and two others in succi 1986 figs.121–122 (latter from ● Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Gabinetto delle Stampe, shelfmark Cicognara xi. 3978, nos. 56–57, 59, 60, 65–66, 68, 72–73, 75–79: apparently a group of fourteen views only).

53. links 1967 pp.405–407, fig.29.

54. Some copies containing fewer than twenty views are recorded; however it is doubtful that any repre­sents a specific issue: ● Blois (Loir-et-Cher), Bibliothèque Abbé Grégoire, T210: library opac describes binding as ‘Cartonné, mauvais état’ ● Lawrence, ks, University of Kansas, Spencer Library, H176: library opac reports ‘only engr. t.-p. and 19 plates: 10 engr. by Brustolon after Canal, 4 engr. by Brustolon after Jo. Bap. Moretti et filii, 5 engr. by Brustolon’ (no description of binding) ● London, British Library, Maps, K.Top.78.65.f.: frontispiece and nineteen views only (‘Dextrorsum Theresiani sinistrorsum S. Simeon Parvus atq: Fullonium’ in duplicate). In the reorganisation of the King George iii Topographical Collection, the prints were tipped onto guards in a modern album ● Manchester, University, John Rylands Library, 22748: title in library opac emended ‘…adjectis tomus i. tabulas xii. [xv]’ suggesting fifteen plates are present (no description of binding) ● St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum: contents and binding uncertain. Impressions are repro­duced in ‘Venice and Venetian Life in 18th Century Prints’ (translation of Russian title), catalogue of an exhibition May 2004–September 2004 (St. Petersburg 2004), pp.120–131, nos. 57–62 ● Rome, American Academy, 808.2.Ven.Bru (contents and binding uncertain) ● Unlocated: Leonardo Lapiccirella, Libri illustrati veneziani del xviii secolo. Disegni, Incisioni, Legature. Catalogo 3 (Florence [1957]), no. 7 (price Lire 220,000): frontispiece and fifteen views, ‘legatura moderna in mezzo vitellino’.

55. ● Cambridge, ma, Harvard University, Houghton Library, Department of Printing & Graphic Arts, Typ 725.63 226: title and twenty views, bound in contemporary half-calf and marbled boards. Copies with same contents, but probably without evidential value include ● Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz, gr.2º Rp 7666 (‘Bestand erfragen / Kriegsverlust möglich’). Entered in the Katalog der Ornamentstichsammlung der Staatlichen Kunst­bibliothek, Berlin (1939), no. 2713 (as twenty plates) ● Christie’s, ‘The Giannalisa Feltrinelli Library’, London, 3 December 1997, lot 255 (sold £12,650): frontispiece and twenty plates, bound in modern paper wrappers.

56. ● Marlborough Rare Books Ltd., ‘Catalogue 47: Some recent acquisitions showing the development of Illustration and Design’, London 1962, item 32 (£390). The same or another copy with identical contents was offered by Sotheby’s, ‘Illustrated books and volumes of prints, mostly of the eighteenth-century. The property of a Gentleman [i.e., A.R.A. Hobson]’, London, 10 November 1975, lot 27 (sold £3500): frontispiece and twenty views, plus five plates from of ducal ceremonies, in an English bind­ing of Russia leather ● Franco Semenzato & C. Sas, ‘Libri d’arte, libri antichi, incisioni’, Venice, 20 September 1986, lot 735 (result unknown): frontispiece and twenty plates, plus twelve plates of ducal ceremonies, in a contemporary half-calf binding, exlibris of Sir Thomas Philip Earl de Grey (1781–1859). The same or another copy with identical contents was offered in Semenzato’s sale ‘Eccezionali libri figurati del xvi al xix secolo’, Venice, 9 June 1987, lot 68 (result unknown). It reappeared in Galerie Kornfeld, Auktion 245, Bern, 10 June 2009, lot 16 ● Nicolas Rauch S.A., ‘Architecture, ornements, décoration intérieure, recueils de vues. Bibliothèque Edmond Fatio’, Geneva, 23 November 1953, lot 36 (estimate chf 800/1000): an album of thirty-six prints bound in ‘demi-bas ancienne’, the contents twenty-two prints of the Prospectuum aedium (fron­tispiece, eleven prints after Canaletto, five after Moretti, and five not signed); twelve prints of ducal ceremonies; an Ughi map; and portrait of Doge Mocenigo. Resold by Christie’s, ‘Valuable printed books and manuscripts’, London, 9 December 1983, lot 18 (£10,000).

57. See note 32 above.

58. ● Sotheby’s, ‘Catalogue of fine old master engravings, etchings and woodcuts’, London, 29 November 1966, lot 110 (sold £560): ‘the title lacking, twenty-one plates… 19th-century brown half-calf, mottled boards’. This set was noted by links 1967 p.405, as ‘the first copy to appear in a London saleroom for ten years’.

59. marini p.98, citing an advertisement printed in that year.

60. Dario Succi, Francesco Tironi, ultimo vedutista del Settecento veneziano (Gorizia 2004), p.20.

61. ● New York, New York Public Library, Print Room, MEM+++B915: an album of forty-six prints, containing frontispiece and twenty-two prints of the Prospectuum aedium, and twenty-four prints by Antonio Sandi ● Sotheby’s, ‘Libri stampe e carte geografiche’, Milan, 17 December 2003, lot 266 (eur 66,000): an album of forty-one prints, containing frontispiece and twenty-two prints of the Prospectuum aedium (in second states with Furlanetto’s address and the prints numbered; watermarks: ‘tre mezze lune, stemma contenente tre mezze lune e sovrastato da corona, lettere fv sovrastate da tre stelle, contro­marche con lettere’), and eighteen prints by Antonio Sandi (in first states), bound in early 19th century half-leather.

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