Filippo Morghen (1730–1807)
“Fishermen
at Herculaneum Harbour” (descriptive title only), c1757, after an ancient Roman
fresco excavated at Herculaneum, illustration to “Raccolta di Pitture
d'Ercolano” (“Collection of paintings of Ercolano”), 1757, designed by Giovanni
Elia Morghen (1721–1789).
Etching and engraving on laid paperwith
full margins as published.
Size: (sheet) 44 x 31.2 cm; (plate) 34.8
x 25.1 cm; (outer image borderline) 32.5 x 23.4 cm
Numbered on plate above the image
borderline: (right) “Pag. 273.”
Lettered on plate below the image
borderline: (left) “Gio. Morg.Reg. del.”; (centre) “Palmi 4 Napoletani / e
Palmi 4 Romani”; (right) “Filip. Morg. Reg. Inci.”
Condition: richly inked and faultlessly
printed impression, backed on support sheet of archival (millennium quality)
washi paper. The sheet is in near pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears,
holes, folds, abrasions, foxing or significant signs of handling) but there are
a few minor dot stains.
I am selling this sumptuously rich velvet-like
engraving (with etching) reproducing an ancient Roman fresco buried for
centuries following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, for
AU$162 (currently US$118.60/EUR103.58/GBP93.04 at the time of this listing)
including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course,
any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).
If you are interested in acquiring this extraordinary
engraving executed a the time when the great Piranesi was etching his very
different prints of Roman ruins and antiquities, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.
This print has been sold
This velvety looking engraving reproduces
an ancient Roman fresco that was unearthed in the early 1700s from the ancient site
of Herculaneum buried since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. Interest in
the frescoes and other antiquities from Herculaneum was spiked by the initial
discovery of the site—beneath the town of Ercolano—in 1710. Excitement leading
to the publication of the grand scale book in which this print features, "Raccolta
di Pitture d'Ercolano” (published 1757), however, was driven by the scientific
(or at least systematic) excavation of Herculaneum begun in 1738 by the king
of Naples, Carl von Bourbon.
Regarding the curious scale lines
inscribed below the image and dividing the text, “Palmi 4 Napoletani / e Palmi
4 Romani”, I understand that this is an ancient Italian system of measurement relying
on the average size of “Palmi” (transl. “Palms”) of Neapolitans and Romans.
From what I can see looking at this scale, the folk from Naples have bigger
hands than their mates in Rome! Nevertheless,
I must hasten to add that the hands of the portrayed fisherman are smaller than
their faces and so ancient Neapolitans must have been “short changed” in this
department.
