Tiberio con corona civica

Tiberio con corona civica   (Tiberius with a civic crown) is a beautiful black and white burin and etching on paper, realized by the artist Pietro Bettelini  (Caslano, 1763 – Rome, 1829),  after Agostino Tofanelli  (Lucca, 1770 - Rome, 1834), as the inscriptions on plate on the lower margin report “ A. Tofanelli del.t  / P. Bettelini sc. t ”.

This original print is numbered on plate in Roman numerals on the higher margin “ Tom II. / Tav. XIII " 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 precious piece of the Borghese's collection: the marble bust of the Roman emperor Tiberius represented in a neoclassical style and with the civic institutional crown.

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

Pietro Bettelini  (Caslano, 1763 – Rome, 1829)

The Swiss engraver began studying art very young under Gandolfi and Bartolozzi; but then he followed more the style of Raphael Morghen. Pietro Bettelini was appreciated by Thorwaldsen, who employed him to engrave some of his finest works, both figures and bass-reliefs. His engraving The Entombment , by Andrea del Sarto, in the Florence Gallery, shows all the beauty of the original, and may be considered not only his masterpiece but also among the finest examples of art.

Agostino Tofanelli  (Lucca 1770 - Rome 1834)
Son of the engraver Andrea, Agostino Tofanelli studied with his father and his brother Stefano. In 1781 he settled in Rome to attend the courses of the Accademia del Nudo. Until the early years of the century it had a good name with a prestigious client as a draftsman and engraver; in 1807 he was appointed custodian of the Capitoline Museum, a position he held until his death. The first important assignments as a painter I saw in Rome in Palazzo Spada (1808) and in the renovation of the apartments of the Quirinale (Salon de Musique of the Empress, 1812). In 1813 he was appointed member of the  Accademia di San Luca t o follow the interventions in Palazzo Taverna , in the Palazzi Vaticani and in the chapel of the Quirinale. In Lucca, he was also commissioned by Maria Luisa di Borbone , for family portraits and works of biblical theme.