138 - TERZIO, Francesco (of Bergamo). Ab AVIDUS or OSELLO, Gaspar.

TERZIO, Francesco (of Bergamo). Ab AVIDUS or OSELLO, Gaspar. “Imagines Gentis Austriacae.” Francisci Tertii Bergomatis, court painter to His Serene Highness Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Count of Tyrol, etc., for the invincible Emperor Maximilian II, Roman Emperor and Perpetually August, Part One of the Images of the Austrian People. Diocese of Œnipontana (Innsbruck) or Venice, (1569–1573). 19th-century fawn half-basane, ribbed spine decorated with gilded fleurons, gilded title “Bergomas Imagines” (a few old handwritten annotations in ink on the endpapers, a few scattered pinholes and stains, slight discoloration in the folds of a few plates, 2 faint central waterstains on a few title pages, pl. 17 with a slight tear at one margin. Binding slightly rubbed). A magnificent and rare series of sumptuous engravings, one of the masterpieces of Renaissance printmaking. A copy of the second edition—expanded to include several additional figures—of this series of full-length portraits of sovereigns affiliated with the Habsburgs of Austria, depicted in their court attire. The first edition is believed to date from 1558 (according to Brunet). Commissioned by Ferdinand II of Tyrol, Archduke of Austria (1529–1595), from the artist and draftsman, Francesco Terzio, the official painter of his court, as part of a policy of imperial propaganda through the dissemination of official Habsburg iconography, intended to serve as an allegory and to associate faces and symbols with power. Contains 52 large black etchings, fold-out and mounted on tabs, printed on thick laid paper. In folio format (38.4 x 51.5 cm at the edge of the plate), with engraved numbering. Plates nos. 5, 10, 13, 15, and 17 appear to be missing, but complete sets are rare. Following the engraved title page bearing the grand coat of arms of Ferdinand II, the series opens with an impressive scene reminiscent of a *Salvator Mundi*: Christ standing on a globe crushes an allegory of Hell (featuring Charon the ferryman, the skeleton of Death, Voluptuousness, and a satyr). The portraits depict important figures—both men and women—of the Habsburg dynasty, and sometimes sovereigns of other European courts, dressed in court attire or armor, set within an ornate architectural pediment. The plates also form a little-known series of *Emblemata*—esoteric vignettes set within the pediment crowning each portrait. The magnificence and precision of the attire help place this album among the series of court costumes and defensive or ceremonial body armor that are missing from bibliographies such as Colas’s. While it is historically more accurate to cite Innsbruck as the place of publication, it is possible that part of the print run was produced later in Italy. After his time at the court of Ferdinand II, Terzio returned there around 1570 (the often-cited period of 1569–1573); furthermore, our engraved title page appears to be in a different state: a slight modification of the typography on the title page and the engraved addition of a reference to Venice at the bottom. The title’s wording corresponds to the 1569 edition. Remarkably engraved by Gaspare (da) Padova (also known as Gaspar ab Avidus or Osello), about whom—given his mastery of the art—little is known except that he was a native of Cittadella (in the Padua region). No copies known to the CCFr. Only a few copies listed in WorldCat, mainly in Germany. Provenance: Library of Francesco Rizzo Patarol (1770–1833), Count and Secretary of the Ducal Chancellery of Padua, from a Venetian family, of the Rizzo Patarol Palace, with his ex libris engraved with the coat of arms from the late 18th to early 19th century, reading “Francesco Rizzo Patarol” - Black-ink stencil stamp “QUIRINIANAE” with a fleur-de-lis coat of arms, from the Bibliotheca Querinia in Brescia, founded in the 18th century. Cicognara, 2114. Brunet, V, 728. Not listed in Colas.