Amore Scherza - Original Etching by G. B. da Ravenna after Bernardino Nocchi 1821

“Amore che scherzo, Statua” (Joking Eros, Statue) is a wonderful black and white etching on paper, realized by the artist Giovanni Brunetti da Ravenna, after Bernardino Nocchi as the inscriptions on plates on lower margins report “Bernardino Nocchi delineò/ Gio Brunetti da Ravenna inc. Roma 1795”. This original print is numbered on plate in Roman numerals on higher right corner “Tav. XXIX” 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 representing a precious piece of the Borghese collection, an Eros statue caressing a sparrow, is in excellent conditions with some light signs of the time (some little whormholes on the left margin beyond the marginal line of the matrix) but with fresh impression. 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 found and made 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). Special attention is held for the “Borghese Warriors”. «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. 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, he was a popular 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 was 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 to follow the interventions in Palazzo Taverna (1810-1814), in the Palazzi Vaticani (1817-1818) and in the chapel of the Quirinale. In Lucca, he was also commissioned by Maria Luisa di Borbone (1818-1820), for family portraits and works of biblical theme. Bernardino Nocchi (Lucca, 1741 - Rome, 1812) Bernardino Nocchi moved to Rome in 1769 with his colleague Stefano Tofanelli, entering the school of Niccolò Lapiccola where he developed a baroque style with neoclassical suggestions. 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. This artwork is shipped from Italy. Under existing legislation, any artwork in Italy created over 70 years ago by an artist who has died requires a licence for export regardless of the work’s market price. The shipping may require additional handling days to require the licence according to the final destination of the artwork.