435 - A. CAYLUS (1692-1765), Lombardian landscape with a town, Etching

A. CAYLUS (1692-1765), Lombardian landscape with a town, Etching Anne Claude Philippe de Caylus (1692 Paris - 1765 ibid.): Lombard landscape with multi-towered city, 18th century, Etching Technique: Etching on Paper Inscription: Inscribed lower left in the printing plate: "Ecole Lombardo", in the centre: "Cab du Roy", signed on the right: "C. Sculp" Date: 18th century Description: Anne Claud Philippe was a French count with roots in the high nobility of France and is considered an early antiquarian and art collector. Beginning his career with a military career, the Comte de Caylus soon turned to the artistic side of life. On a Grand Tour, he travelled through the Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy and Asia Minor and became acquainted with literature and art. He was particularly interested in antiquity and its fine arts, but he soon developed a connoisseurship of later art epochs that was admired by many and also devoted himself to the academic study of art. At the beginning of the 18th century, Anne Claude Philippe was also active as an artist herself and belonged to the inner circle of the Rococo painter Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) and the French banker and art collector Pierre Crozat (around 1661-1740). In his collection and in the royal art collections, he primarily studied Italian master drawings and prints from the previous two centuries. He took up many of them himself - or had them reworked by professional etchers - for the Recueil Crozat catalogue raisonné and converted them into etchings. The present sheet also comes from this process, which began around 1723. The sketchy landscape offers an unusual and captivating perspective. From a small elevation on the hilly bank of a wide sea tributary, the viewer looks through the trees and branches standing close in the foreground to the landscape beyond. There, in front of a jagged ridge, rises a multi-towered northern Italian harbour town. A small sailing boat approaches from the left. Keywords: Lombardy, northern Italy, trees, city, nature, 18th century, Classicism, Landscape, Italy, Size: Paper: 25,4 cm x 40,3 cm (10 x 15,9 in) Condition: Good condition. Yellow-brown grease stains are visible at the bottom right. Small irregularities in the colour application, probably caused by printing, are visible in places.