Busto di Geta

Busto di Geta   (Bust of Geta) is a superb black and white burin and etching on paper, realized by the artist Pietro Fontana ,  after Agostino Tofanelli , as the inscriptions on plate on the lower margin report “ Agostino Tofanelli delineò  / Pietro Fontana incise Roma ”.

This original print is numbered on plate in Roman numerals on the higher margin: “ Tom II. / Tav. XXII " and is a plate from the series " Illustrazioni de' Monumenti scelti Borghesiani già esistenti nella Villa sul Pincio (..) date ora per la prima volta in luce dal cav. Gio. Gherardo De Rossi e da Stefano Piale sotto la guida di Vincenzo Feoli ",   by Ennio Quirino Visconti, published by Stamperia de Romanis in Rome in 1821.

This old master’s original print shows a beautiful piece of the Borghese's collection: a marble bust of Geta  in a neoclassical style. Geta (full name Publius Septimius Geta) was the son of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, and the brother of Caracalla. He was a Roman co-emperor from 209 to 212 AD, first with his father and then with his brother. His biography is very interesting: he was the younger son of Septimius Severus and his second wife; his face was obliterated because of the damnatio memoriae ordered by his brother Caracalla, who had him assassinated.

In excellent conditions, with some light signs of time, some sporadic minor stains along the lower margin, and a usual and imperceptible yellowing of the paper on the margins. This wonderful etching has preserved its charming and fresh impression.

Pietro Fontana  (Bassano Romano, 1762 – Rome, 1837)

The Italian artist and engraver Pietro Fontana was active in Rome and specialized in subjects dealing with the Vatican and the Papacy.  He started his career as student of Raffaello Morghen, and became well-known for his series of engravings of Canova's neoclassical sculptures. He became a member of the Accademia di San Luca.

Teodoro Matteini  (Pistoia, 1754 - Venice, 1831)

The Italian painter Teodoro Matteini specialized mainly in historical and religious subject matters in the neoclassical style. He was introduced to the art world by his father, the decorative painter Ippolito Matteini. He moved to Rome to assist Domenico Corvi and then to collaborate with Anton Raphael Mengs. He was active in Rome, where he worked on the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, in Bergamo, in Milan, and in Venice, where he became professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts and restored a vast collection of models in stucco and terracotta collected by the Abbot Filippo Farsetti.