Domenico de' Rossi
Encyclopedia
Domenico de' Rossi was an Italian sculptor and engraver.
In 1709 Domenico inherited the printshop of Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi, by the church of Santa Maria della Pace
, the largest and most long-lived publisher of the Roman baroque. Several generations of the de' Rossi participated in the family publishing firm established in the 17th century, which continued to produce engravings for the use of designers http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/art/collections/notable_aquisitions/notacq93.html.
palazzi and churches in Rome
, which included among them some unexecuted designs of Bernini
and Borromini
, and which were titled "Studio d'architettura civile di Roma 1702, 1711, and 1721. The first volume, showing a wide variety of designs of windows, doors and gates, porticos and porches, chimney pieces and stairs, and dedicated to Pope Clement XI
, was engraved for Rossi by quite a large team: Alessandro Specchi
, Filippo Vasoni, Carlo Fontana
, Vinzendo Francischini, and others. De' Rossi also produced a book of designs for altars and chapels, Disegni di Vari Altari e Cappelle, 1685. The series of engravings were some of the first to present the contemporary baroque decoration of 17th-century Rome, thus they are of interest to architectural historians and were reprinted with an introductory essay by Anthony Blunt
, 1972.
When he published a collection of engravings of ancient and modern Roman sculpture
, Raccolta di statue antiche e moderne (Rome, 1704), he turned to the well-known antiquarian Paolo Alessandro Maffei
for suitably learned descriptive text, for what was in effect the first eighteenth-century art book, whose refined engravings by French artists were designed to appeal to the cognoscenti.
The complete titles of Domenico de' Rossi's volumes:
In 1709 Domenico inherited the printshop of Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi, by the church of Santa Maria della Pace
Santa Maria della Pace
Santa Maria della Pace is a church in Rome, central Italy, not far from Piazza Navona.The current building was built on the foundations of the pre-existing church of Sant'Andrea de Aquarizariis in 1482, commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV. The church was rededicated to the Virgin Mary to remember a...
, the largest and most long-lived publisher of the Roman baroque. Several generations of the de' Rossi participated in the family publishing firm established in the 17th century, which continued to produce engravings for the use of designers http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/art/collections/notable_aquisitions/notacq93.html.
Publications
He is especially remembered for the three folio volumes of architectural engravings of elevations and frontal views of BaroqueBaroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
palazzi and churches in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, which included among them some unexecuted designs of Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
and Borromini
Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli was an architect from Ticino who, with his contemporaries, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.A keen student of the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of...
, and which were titled "Studio d'architettura civile di Roma 1702, 1711, and 1721. The first volume, showing a wide variety of designs of windows, doors and gates, porticos and porches, chimney pieces and stairs, and dedicated to Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI , born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was Pope from 1700 until his death in 1721.-Early life:...
, was engraved for Rossi by quite a large team: Alessandro Specchi
Alessandro Specchi
Alessandro Specchi was an Italian architect and engraver.Born in Rome, he trained as an architect under Carlo Fontana. He also specialized as an engraver and made a well known series of plates for prints of vedute or views of Rome As an architect, he was influenced by Francesco Borromini...
, Filippo Vasoni, Carlo Fontana
Carlo Fontana
Carlo Fontana was an Italian architect, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture.-Biography:...
, Vinzendo Francischini, and others. De' Rossi also produced a book of designs for altars and chapels, Disegni di Vari Altari e Cappelle, 1685. The series of engravings were some of the first to present the contemporary baroque decoration of 17th-century Rome, thus they are of interest to architectural historians and were reprinted with an introductory essay by Anthony Blunt
Anthony Blunt
Anthony Frederick Blunt , was a British art historian who was exposed as a Soviet spy late in his life.Blunt was Professor of the History of Art at the University of London, director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, Surveyor of the King's Pictures and London...
, 1972.
When he published a collection of engravings of ancient and modern Roman sculpture
Roman sculpture
The study of ancient Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to Greek sculpture. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the Apollo Belvedere and Barberini Faun, are known only from Roman Imperial or Hellenistic "copies." At one time, this imitation was taken by art...
, Raccolta di statue antiche e moderne (Rome, 1704), he turned to the well-known antiquarian Paolo Alessandro Maffei
Paolo Alessandro Maffei
Paolo Alessandro Maffei was an antiquarian with a humanist education, who was active in Rome. Maffei was the son of Paolo Maffei and his wife Giovanna di Raffaele, both of patrician families of Volterra...
for suitably learned descriptive text, for what was in effect the first eighteenth-century art book, whose refined engravings by French artists were designed to appeal to the cognoscenti.
The complete titles of Domenico de' Rossi's volumes:
- Studio d'architettura civile sopra gli ornamenti di porte e finestre tatti da alcune fabbriche insigni di Roma con le misure piante modini, e profili. Opera de piu celebri architetti de nostri tempi, Rome, 1702. Dedicated to Clement XI
- Studio d'architettura civile sopra varj ornamenti di cappelle, e diversi sepolcri tratti da più chiese di Roma colle loro facciate, fianchi, piante, e misure. Opera de' più celebri architetti de' nostri tempi, Rome, 1711. Dedicated to Cardinal Francesco Acquaviva d'Aragona
- Studio d'architettura civili sopra varie chiese, cappelle di Roma, e palazzo di Caprarola, et altre fabriche con le loro facciate, spaccati, piante, e misure. Opera de' piu celebri architetti de' nostri tempi, Rome, 1721. Dedicated to Cardinal Bernardino Scotto.
External links
- Engravings by various artists from Domenico de' Rossi, Studio d'architettura civile
- Details of Studio d'architettura civile
- Columbia University: Joseph Connors, Francesco Borromini: Opus Architectonicum, Milan, 1998: bibliography, including material by the de' Rossi.
Further reading
- Simona Ciofetta, "Lo Studio d'Architettura Civile edito da Domenico De Rossi (1702, 1711, 1721)," in Urbe Architectus, pp. 214-228
- Francesca Consagra, "De Rossi and Falda: A Successful Collaboration in the Print Industry of Seventeenth-Century Rome," in A. Ladis and C. Wood, eds., The Craft of Art: Originality and Industry in the Italian Renaissance and Baroque Workshop, Athens, Georgia, 1995, pp. 187-203.