Il Corso

Il Corso is a beautiful etching and hand-colored gouache, finely engraved on copper and printed on laid paper. The work, which presents a remarkable quality of strokes and brilliant colors, is unsigned, but it is part of the 20 plates engraved in 1820 by the Swedish artist Carl Gustaf Hjalmar Mörner (or umo?rner) during his stay in Rome, certainly influenced by the style and manner of the coeval folkloric prints made by Bartolomeo Pinelli (cfr. Hermanin F., Una collezione di stampe e disegni dell’antico carnevale romano , Bollettino d’Arte, Rome, year I, January 1907, p. 28, cit.).

The title is engraved on plate on the lower center; the print is numbered 7 on the lower right. The quality and the conditions of preservation of this original print are very good. On the lower margin, there are some small abrasions of the paper and a small restored tear, slightly visible.

This original print shows Via del Corso, the former Via Lata, in Rome, in a moment of the famous Roman Carnival , understandable for the presence of many disguised characters. The Carnival in Rome has been celebrated since antiquity, and it was a period of carefreeness and play for the Roman citizens. Most of the events took place right in the Via del Corso, where disguised men and women met as it is represented in the work.

The engraving is pleasant and fun, brightly colored, presenting a dynamic composition. This is an unusual and precious proof of the history and folklore of Rome in the XIX century.