ab Aqua, Vicentinus Christophorus / Boscarati, Felix
Mundi Vetus, Recens: Hinc Posterum Universale Systema. (..) Tabula Riveriana Prima
Verona. 1772. Folio. Plate mark 70 x 47,5 cm. The whole sheet 75 x 53 cm. Passe partout 81 x 58 cm. Etching / engraving.
Uncut margins. Green passe partout. Two small repairs to the image area.. One small loss of surface area in the lower right corner (ca. 1 x 1 cm). Some foxing, mainly to the margins. Two small holes in the upper margin.
A wonderful print in contemporary hand colouring, which is quite uncommon. Most copies are uncoloured. It is an "allegorical composition on the order of the universe, after Boscarati,; at centre the crouched Atlas carries a globe on his back; the globe support a seasaw upon which sit Mars and Ganymede, a wind-god blows on a torch held by Hymen, who crouches on the ground and tries to shelter the torch with his wing; nearby, a nude woman with many breasts and with legs bound with a spiked belt leans on the globe; up in the sky a man brandishing a stick reclines on a cloud; on the ground, to the right, a cow (agriculture), a fish and a net (fishing) and the head of a boar (hunting)" (British Museum). There is a long explanation of the allegory in latin below the image. A man with text on his sole - "Ego Lazarus Riviera Calculando Invent" - is standing in front of a very large canvas where most of the figures are depicted. The canvas hangs from the top of the image. The print is described as the "Tabula Riveriana Prima" and executed after a painting by Felix Boscarati. "Tabula Riveriana" is a famous serie of four allegorical paintingsy Boscarati. The present print was drawn, etched and engraved by Vicentinus Christophorus ab Aqua. Boscarati was a painter active in Verona in the 18th. century. Vicentinus Christophorus ab Aqua was a reproductive etcher active in Italy in the same period. Scarce.
Item No: 2729
