Derek and I enjoyed many overseas trips. Our best trip included six weeks in Italy - before Derek's health deteriorated. (This pic. taken 40 years ago!)
From our website, a special map of Venice c.1782 by Antonio Zatta.
We began our Italian adventure in Venice, wandering up and down bridges and footpaths, immersing ourselves in the architecture and mood of this amazing place. We usually walked until we found dead-ends and had to retrace our steps.. with many pitstops for refreshment.
As with many European towns, we found a wonderful little place selling antique maps and prints, - and met the lovely owner who showed us where our AntiquePrintClub website was at the top of his bookmarks. What a small world it is!
I wished I spoke Italian. Big smiles and finger-pointing are often the order of the day.
In Italy we always included at least one tour. We saw grand old European castles with ceramics and sculptures, walls painted with frescoes which included earlier architecture, and all kinds of architectural embellishment. We were chuffed that our antique prints were in superior condition.
Elegant large statues of ancient gods engraved from the drawings of Dolcibene... antique prints c.1784 were not easy to find in good condition. This one is of Venus. We have others equally beautiful on this website under Classical Vases/Urns/Sculptures.
Smaller charming engravings of Canova marble statues of Venus and the Dancing Girl in Repose, engraved c.1832, are also beautiful.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) trained as an architect in Venice, and when 23 years old was awarded a prize to study in Rome. He worked in Rome with one of the finest sculptors of all time, fellow Venetian, Antonio Canova. Piranesi loved ancient architecture, and set up his own workshop on the Corso in Rome, where he restored and sold Roman antiquities. Devising a new method of engraving, Piranesi soon established himself as the greatest etcher of the 18th century. Piranesi Vases and Urns are still used in modern décor - though usually reproductions, not his beautiful original etchings on early hand-made paper.
After arriving in Rome we again visited the Vatican museums, where Raphael's work is impressive. The Pope's private residence and Loggia are these days not accessible to the public, but 250 years after Raphael completed his 'decorating' commission another Pope engaged architects, draughtsmen and engravers to record Raphael's beautiful frescoes before they further deteriorated from the weather.
Derek and I particularly appreciated Raphael's Loggia pilasters and arches, but it is time to pass these on to someone who can do justice to them in a larger grander setting than our home... Some are still to be photographed for the website. We also have smaller pairs of Raphael's pilasters, beautifully framed..
(Pictures do not do them justice...)
We have a wonderful selection of Italian antique artwork - many sizes and styles (many not on the website). If you would like to visit us
at Neranwood (above Springbrook Road 1 hour south of Brisbane)
please email Kathryn: sales@antiqueprintclub.com - or phone 0412 442 283