Domizio Corbulone

“ Domizio Corbulone ” is a superb black and white burin and etching on paper, realized by the Italian artist Giovanni Folo Veneto  (Bassano, 1764– Rome1836) ,  after Bernardino Nocchi  (Lucca, 1741 - Rome, 1812) ,  as the inscriptions on plates on lower margins report “Bernardino Nocchi delineò. / Giovanni Folo Veneto incise in Roma”.   

This original print is numbered on plate in Roman numerals on higher margin:  “Tom II. /Tav. XIV"  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, 1821.

This old master’s original prints shows a precious piece of the Borghese's collection, the marble bust of the Roman politician and military men of the Roman Empire, represented in neoclassical style.

In excellent conditions with some light signs of the time this wonderful burin has preserved still today his fresh impression and his beauty.

Illustrazioni de' Monumenti scelti Borghesiani

This collection in two volumes is a beautifully detailed catalog of classical sculptures collected by Prince Borghese (1730-1800) in his Villa on the Pincio. Ennio Quirino Visconti (1751 - 1818) wrote the texts that accompany the large branches depicting. To these writings, which were available by the son of the illustrious archaeologist, the publishers added only a few illustrations relating to some minor monument of which copper had already been engraved.

The engraved title-plate are signed by draughtsmen like Agostino Tofanelli, Stefano Tofanelli, Bernardino Nocchi, Domenico de Angelis or Teodoro Matteini, and by engravers Pietro Fontana Veneto, P. Vitali, Pietro Bettelini, Giovanni Folo Veneto, Giovanni Brunetti da Ravenna, Giovanni Ottaviani, Francesco Cecchini, Gio. Batta. Leonetti, Girolamo Carattoni, Domenico Cunego, Luigi Cunego, Alessandro Mochetti, Luigi Pizzi, Angelo Campanella or Giacomo Bossi.

The Volume I shows ancient full-length statues, of the Borghese warrior by Agasias (two plates), Greek gods and heroes and Roman famous historical figures; the last two plates represents antique Egyptian deities. There are plates representing ancient bas-reliefs,  sarcophagi, of mythological subjects, the Borghese Vase, portrait busts, a vase on an altar, two statues of Amor; and two modern statues, by Bernini (the Apollo and Daphne, and the David).

« Très bel ouvrage » writes Brunet,  « Grand ouvrage, le seul qui mérite, parmi ceux sur la villa Borgese, de figurer dans le chapitre aux Galeries et Collections»  Vinet said, looking at this plate.

Giovanni Folo Veneto  (Bassano, 1764– Rome1836)

Giovanni Folo Veneto was an Italian engraver of the Neoclassic period, active in Italy. He studied with Giulio Golini and G.B. Mengardi in Venice. In 1781 he moved to Rome to study with Giovanni Volpato, but later he followed the style of the Volpato's pupil, Raffaello Morghen, gaining fame for his engravings after famous paintings and sculptures of the most eminent masters, including Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, Nicolas Poussin, Bertel Thorwaldsen, Antonio Canova and others. He became a member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome,

Bernardino Nocchi (Lucca, 1741 - Rome, 1812) 

Bernardino Nocchi was noticed by Pope Pius VI, who in 1780 entrusted him with the painting of the Sacred Apostolic Palaces and then in 1785 with the Print Room of the Vatican Library. But he also works outside the capital, in Gubbio where in 1797 he realizes the transit of St. Joseph in the Church of San Secondo, in Spoleto, in Lucca and in Catania. Returning to Rome, Nocchi painted some of his best paintings: Prince Camillo Borghese in 1799 , The apotheosis of Saint Prudenziana, Saint Novato and Saint Timothy in 1803 and Pius VII in 1807.