Oblong Folio, 322 x 480 mm. Contemporary binding in boards, latin title on red morocco label on cover. Ttilepage with dedication within decorated frame with floral motifs, 24 etchings numbered I-XXIV. All etchings are on thick laid paper, watermark with crossbow. The plates presents on the left “Marc. Ricci pinx.”, on the right the number of plate. Within the illustration, the monogram of Fossati. Very slight trace of wear on binding, inside very nice condition, a specimen with wide margin.
Magnificent and very rare collection of twenty-four prints derived from works by Marco Ricci, with landscapes and ruins. The works were part of the collections of Joseph Smith and Anton Maria Zanetti. In the title page, outlined with a light and cursive phrasing, the work is dedicated to Count Francesco Algarotti. Succi: “le acqueforti di derivazione riccesca sorprendono piacevolmente per la raffinata orchestrazione dei grigi variamente graduati e, nei fogli migliori di tema rovinistico, per il tremolio delle vibrazioni luminose vagamente alludenti ai modi del Canaletto. Altrove le vellutate erpicature nerolucenti si oppongono al bianco assoluto degli spazi, liberi da segni, in un’alternanza complessa e meditata in cui l’artista rivela la sua fervida partecipazione al tema trattato.”
Davide Antonio Fossati, Morcote 1708 - Venice 1795, landed in Venice in 1720, where he specialized in fresco painting and in particular in architecture and ornaments paintings. He stayed mainly in Venice, alternating his activity between Vienna (1723-28), where he successfully worked on the decoration of important noble palaces and city churches, Bratislava, the northern Hungary (1728-29) and Morcote. In 1743 he published a collection of etchings derived from paintings by Marco Ricci. He was appointed Academic of Honor of the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice in 1775 and of the Clementine of Bologna in 1778, the year in which he became a member of the College of painters of Venice.