5234 - Cattini, Giovanni

Cattini, Giovanni Bust portrait of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. Etching and copperplate engraving. 44 x 33.4 cm. 1743. Le Blanc 1, Succi, p. 130. Marked with the letters AS (Heawood 3084). This striking portrait depicts the Venetian master painter at the age of 52, at the zenith of his highly significant artistic career. The work is based on a portrait drawing that Piazzetta created in 1735 and inscribed with a personal dedication. The copperplate engraver Giovanni Cattini, a student of the painter and engraver Giovanni Antonio Faldoni, proves himself here to be a master of his craft. The portrait is executed with remarkable confidence and variety. While the physiognomy and flesh tones are rendered in a detailed, highly refined technique, the hair and fur collar are treated with surprising freedom and a sense of texture. This contrast lends the subject an immense vitality and physical presence. A magnificent, nuanced, and harmonious print with a wide margin. A smoothed-out horizontal center fold, isolated creases, and other minor signs of wear; otherwise, very well preserved. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.