[CARBONI, Giovanni Battista] - Lot 70

[CARBONI, Giovanni Battista] Le Pitture e Sculture di Brescia che sono esposte al pubblico con un'appendice di alcune private Gallerie Brescia, Giambatista Bossini, 1760 AN ASTONISHING GUIDE TO BRESCIA'S PAINTING AND SCULPTURE COLLECTIONS. AN INSTANTANCE OF AN ITALIAN CITY IN THE 18th CENTURY WRITTEN BY A SCULPTOR WHO ENGRAVED THE BOOK'S ORNAMENT ORIGINAL EDITION In-8 (212 x 135 mm). Engraved vignette on title page, initials, headbands and large copper-engraved endpapers by the author. COLLATION: a12 A-L8 M10 : xxiv-196 pp. ILLUSTRATION: allegorical frontispiece engraved by Giovanni Battista Carboni CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN BINDING. Soft bis paper boards, visible stitching, spine muted, entirely untrimmed. Traces of label and stamp (illegible) on upper cover This guide to Brescia recreates the artistic life and collections of an Italian city. The book was written by Giovanni Battista Carboni (1725-1790), son of the sculptor and engraver Rizzardo Carboni. In a rare feat, he engraved the book's ornamentation himself. In the first five parts of the volume, all of Brescia's churches and religious or political institutions are described, along with the works of art they display. But the main interest of the book today lies in the precise description of seven major collections of paintings and sculptures: those of Giovanni Molino (1705-1773), cardinal-bishop of the city since 1761, the Casa Gaifami, the Maffei collections located "contrada delle Grazie", the Palazzo Uggeri now in via Pace, the Casa Arici, the Palazzo Barbisoni-Bessoni "nella strada lunga" and the Palazzo Conti-Avogadri. A forty-page Appendix lists the paintings and sculptures in these Gallerie Private. BIBLIOGRAPHY : Schlosser, pp. 551-559 -- Cicognara 4185