ROME - CATACOMBES - PETIT Savinien (1815 † 1878). Reunion of 8 original drawings on vellum, preparatory to the large lithographed album by Louis PERRET, "Catacombs of Rome" (Paris, Gide and J. Baudry Éditeurs, 1851, 6 volumes). Plates produced in particular for volumes I (pl. 18 and 51) and III (pl. 11, 15, 21, 34 and 45). The set includes 4 pencil and stump drawings, and 4 watercolours on pencil lines. Some of the subjects are executed on tracing paper applied on vellum. Notable subjects: "Crypt of Saint Hyppolytus"; "Church of St Hermes"; "Cemetery of Saint Pretextat". Average sheet size: 58 x 44 cm. Condition B/C (freckles, dirt and traces of humidity). Set of 8 pieces. "For lack of having been able to compete for the Prix de Rome, Savinien Petit owes a commission from the State the opportunity to discover the Eternal City. In 1845, a commission composed of Ampère, Ingres, Mérimée and Vitet asked him to survey the catacombs in order to illustrate, in chromolithography, Louis Perret's work "Catacombs of Rome", published in six volumes in 1851. Petit and Perret were thus in line with the first works begun by Antonio Bosio in the 16th century, continued in the 19th century by Séroux d'Agincourt, or Padre Marchi (...), and preceded by a few years the publication of G.B. de Rossi (1822-1894), "Roma sotterranea cristiana" (1864-1877). "(Collective, "Savinien Petit: Le sentiment de la ligne, 1818-1878", exhibition catalogue, Nancy, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy, 16 June - 20 Sept. 2004, Paris, Artlys Editions, 2004, p.30).