ROME CATACOMBES PETIT Savinien (1815 1878). Reunion of 8 ori - Lot 92

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 et J. Baudry Éditeurs, 1851, 6 volumes). Plates realized notably for volumes I (pl. 18 and 51) and III (pl. 11, 15, 21, 34 and 45). The set includes 4 drawings in pencil and stump, and 4 watercolors on pencil line. Some subjects executed on tracings applied to vellum. Notable subjects : " Crypt of Saint Hyppolyte " ; " Church of St Hermes " ; " Cemetery of Saint Prétextat ". Average size of the leaves : 58 x 44 cm. Condition B/C (foxing, soiling and traces of humidity). Set of 8 pieces. "For lack of being able to compete for the Rome Prize, Savinien Petit owed the opportunity to discover the Eternal City to a government commission. In 1845, a commission composed of Ampère, Ingres, Mérimée and Vitet solicited him for the survey of the catacombs intended to illustrate, in chromolithography, the work of Louis Perret, " Catacombs of Rome ", published in six volumes in 1851. Petit and Perret thus follow in the footsteps of the first works begun by Antonio Bosio in the sixteenth century, continued in the nineteenth century by Séroux d'Agincourt, or Padre Marchi (...), and precede 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 catalog, Nancy, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy, June 16-Sept. 20, 2004, Paris, Artlys Editions, 2004, p.30.)