Giuseppe Diamantini

The present sheet, formerly entitled The Night, is now considered to be a depiction of Urania, the muse of astronomy, who is accompanied by such attributes as an armillary sphere, a globe, telescopes, a compass and a book. The solar or a planetary orbit appears at the top in the form of a hoop that looks like an enlarged ring of the armillary sphere. The work dates to before 1663, the year in which Diamantini added Eques to the signature of his works, and is dedicated together with an additional print to the Macedonian Prince Angelo Maria Angelo Flavio Comneno, Grand Master of the Constantinian Order of St. George, of which Diamantini was made a Knight.

Although he came from Fossombrone in the Marche, Giuseppe Diamantini was one of the leading etchers in Venice in the second half of the Seicento. Having trained in Bologna, where he was apprenticed to Giovanni Andrea Sirani and was greatly influenced by Simone Cantarini, Diamantini settled in Venice around 1662 and spent almost the whole of his life there as a painter and etcher. He produced a quite extensive printed oeuvre, the outstanding features of which are his impetuous, spontaneous style and the atmospheric, painterly effect he achieves. Many of his prints appeared in very small editions, which explains the rarity of the present etching. Diamantini’s artistic signature is highly individual and easily recognisable. In all probability the artist dispensed with any preliminary drawings and etched his compositions straight onto the plate; the linework is correspondingly brisk and uninhibited with the emphasis more on tonal effect than abundant detail. A very fine, tonal early impression with thread margins around the distinct platemark. Minor ageing, otherwise in excellent condition. From the collections of Adolph Theodor Gerstäcker (Lugt 1077).

EUR 9,500