ROME CATACOMBES PETIT Savinien (1815 1878). Reunion of 8 ori - Lot 46

ROME CATACOMBES PETIT Savinien (1815 1878). Reunion of 8 original drawings on vellum, preparatory to the large lithographed album by Louis PERRET, "Catacombes de Rome" (Paris, Gide et J. Baudry Éditeurs, 1851, 6 volumes). Plates produced notably for volumes I (pl. 18 and 51) and III (pl. 11, 15, 21, 34 and 45). The set includes 4 pencil and estompe drawings, and 4 watercolors on pencil lines. Some subjects executed on tracing paper applied to vellum. Notable subjects: "Crypt of Saint Hyppolyte"; "Church of St Hermès"; "Cemetery of Saint Prétextat". Average sheet size: 58 x 44 cm. Condition B/C (foxing, soiling and traces of moisture). Set of 8 pieces. "Unable to enter the Prix de Rome competition, Savinien Petit owed the opportunity to discover the Eternal City to a government commission. In 1845, a commission made up of Ampère, Ingres, Mérimée and Vitet asked him to survey the catacombs to illustrate, in chromolithography, Louis Perret's "Catacombes de Rome", published in six volumes in 1851. Petit and Perret thus followed in the footsteps of Antonio Bosio in the 16th century, and Séroux d'Agincourt and Padre Marchi (...) in the 19th century, and preceded by a few years the publication by 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.)