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Saverio Manetti, group of 6 Birds of Prey, 1776

Creator: Saverio Manetti
Offered by: Shapero Gallery

Description
MANETTI, Saverio.
A Group of Six Birds of Prey.
Plate XXVI. Sparviere Terzuolo Italiano. Accipiter Tertiarius Italiais.
Plate XLIX. Falco d’ volgram te Gheppiuo, e Acertello. Falco Tinnunculus, sive Cenchris Aldrov.
Plate XLV. Falco chiamato in Toscano Barletta. Falco in Etruria vulgo Barletta.
Plate XXXVII. Falco volgarm detto Albanella con il collare. Falco Albanella torquata de.
Plate LII. Falco Gheppio di Torre diverso. Falco Tinnunculus Ruderum, vel Turrium alter.
Plate XXVIII. Sparviere detto Falcone Sacro volgarm e Falco Moro. Accipiter Falco Sacer dictus.

Hand-coloured etching, with engraving. Framed and glazed, overall dimensions: 60 x 48cm.

Saverio Manetti (1723-1785) was a prominent Florentine physician and botanist and a member of some of the leading scientific societies in 18th century Europe. In addition to his other accomplishments Manetti produced one of the finest bird books of the eighteenth century, the Ornithologia Methodice Digesta, which prefigured the later more ornithologically oriented books by trying for the first time to show birds that did not look obviously stuffed, against backgrounds that are relatively realistic ones rather than artificial branches.

It was commissioned by Maria Luisa, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and the copper-engravings were made by Violante Vanni and Lorenzo Lorenzi over an almost a ten-year period from 1767 to 1776.

Manetti worked almost exclusively from real specimens, beginning with the extensive collection of Marquis Giovanni Gerini. The result was one of the largest surveys of ornithology attempted up to that date, a work “larger, better engraved and more vividly coloured than any previous book on birds, notable for its lively posturing of the specimens. It is one of the half-dozen or so Great Bird Books in the collector's sense.

The attitudes of the birds themselves give this book its unique character. Strutting, parading, posturing, and occasionally flying. To the collector it is certainly a great book with very beautiful plates.” (Dance).

More Information

Documentation:	Ample Provenance
Origin:	Italy
Period:	18th Century
Materials:	engraving
Condition:	Good.
Creation Date:	1776
Styles / Movements:	Other
Dealer Reference #:	101299
Incollect Reference #:	344230

Dimensions

W.	18.9 in;	H.	23.62 in;
W.	48 cm;	H.	60 cm;

Message from Seller:

Based in the heart of Mayfair in London, we specialise in prints and original works on paper across a broad range of subjects, from antique prints to modern pochoir plates, as well as photographs from vintage photography to modern art photography.

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