“Le Donne per parer belle, si fanno brute…” from Raccolta di quaranta proverbi toscani.
Copper engraving (44.6 x 30.6 cm, platemark 28.9 x 20.1 cm). Splendid contemporary hand-color in green, blue, pink, light brown and grey. Number “VII.” engraved on upper right, signed “G. Piattoli inv.” on lower left, with Tuscan proverb below image as follows: “Le Donne per parer belle, si fanno brutte. Le Donne per dar gusto ai Cicisbei, La guancia lor quasi si sciuppan tutte, E con la biacca, col belletto, e i nei, Quantunque belle, ancor si rendon brutte” (“Women, in order to appear beautiful, become ugly. Women, to give pleasure to the Cicisbei, almost all their cheeks are ruined, and with white lead, with rouge, and with moles, although beautiful, they still make themselves ugly”). Two small pin holes on upper margin, occasional marginal light spotting and smudging, not affecting image. Excellent, with vivid color. Remarkable collaboration between the painter Giuseppe Piattoli the Younger and the engraver Carlo Lasinio. This amusing image of an 18th century “beauty”, applying her make-up before two obsequious servants while a stylish man whispers into her ear, was engraved by Carlo Lasinio who collaborated with Giuseppe Piattoli in his series Raccolta di quaranta proverbi toscani, also known as Proverbi toscani espressi in figure, issued in 1788. The painter and draughtsman Giuseppe Piattoli (1750-1815), known as "the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, flourished in Florence from 1765 to 1807. He was elected to the Accademia in Florence in 1765 and made “maestro di disegno” in 1785. According to Jeffares, he may have taught Anna Tonelli (c. 1763-1846), as they collaborated on a portrait of the family of Granduca Pietro Leopoldo in 1785. The engraver Carlo Lasinio (1759-1838) taught engraving at the Accademia in Florence between 1779-1835. He practiced all the traditional engraving techniques – burin, etching, mezzotint, and line engraving – and successfully experimented with the revolutionary system of E. Dagoty-Le Blon, which involved the use of multiple plates inked with red, yellow, and blue colors to create the impression of a watercolor (Treccani).
* Bénézit, vol. 6, p. 462 (Lasinio) & vol. 8, p. 291 (Piattoli); Bobins V, 1509; Cicognara 1758; Colas 2352; Neil Jeffares, “Giuseppe Piattoli, Florence, 1743-1823”, in Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800 (online edition); Lipperheide Jbb 4; Armando Pelliccioni, Dizionario degli Artisti Incisori Italiani (1949), p. 99.
Price: $975.00