134 - [FINE ARTS] - Gérard de LAIRESSE

[FINE ARTS] - Gérard de LAIRESSE The Great Book of Painters, or The Art of Painting. Considered in All Its Parts, & Demonstrated by Principles; with Reflections on the Works of Some Great Masters, & on the Flaws Found Therein. To Which Are Appended the Principles of Drawing by the Same Author Paris, At the Hôtel de Thou, 1787, 2 volumes In-4°. Full marbled calfskin binding of the period. Spine with 5 raised bands decorated with panels, fleurons, and gilded motifs. Title and volume number labels in oxblood morocco. Triple gilt fillet encircling the covers. Marbled edges. Scuffing, scabs, worn caps, dulled corners; the top edge of the first cover of Vol. 2 is split. Interior fresh (a few browned plates) First edition of the French translation recognized as one of the most influential theoretical and technical treatises on 18th-century painting. A painter and decorator from Liège who settled in Amsterdam and was a favorite of Stadtholder William III, Gérard de Lairesse (1640–1711) was nicknamed the “Dutch Poussin.” Struck by total blindness at the age of 50, he devoted his final years to dictating his lectures to guide and teach young artists the fundamentals of “good painting.” This didactic work, divided into thirteen sections, encapsulates the entire classical academic ideal: it meticulously details technique, geometric composition, chromatic harmony, and the rules of light and shadow, before addressing the various genres thematically (landscape, portraiture, still life, as well as ceiling decoration and its relationship to ancient architecture). The major bibliophilic appeal of this Hôtel de Thou edition lies in its remarkable and comprehensive illustrations in intaglio engraving: the volume contains precisely 35 superb engraved plates (including 3 fold-out plates). The engravings are distributed asymmetrically: 33 plates bound into the first volume (including the famous anatomical and geometric plates from the section on the Principles of Drawing) and 2 plates inserted into the second volume. References: Cohen-De Ricci, 592; Graesse, IV, 74. Provenance: from the library of Charles Surmont de Volsberghe (bookplate + label indicating first prize in a school competition dated September 1816)