"Instruction In Der Teatralischen Architectur Und Mechanique" 1930 FABRIS, Jacopo (SOLD)

Udgivet Og Forsynet Med Indledning Af Torben Krough

Loose-leaf folio w/ 20 plates

Levin & Munksgaard

1930

First Edition

Printed in Denmark

 14 1/2" x 10"

Large format publication on the stage machinery of Fabris, introductory text followed by facsimile reproductions of Fabris' original drawings.

Venice 1689 – 1761 Copenhagen

Painter, architect and decorator, Jacopo Fabris was born in Venice to parents of German origin. He was active in Italy and abroad. In 1719-21 he was court painter in Karlsruhe, Germany, where he worked on theatrical decoration, a genre in which he was very skilled, having practiced it since his youth. At fifteen he had been among the decorators of the stage of the Hamburg Theatre. He would often work in this capacity, especially in Copenhagen where he lived from 1742 onwards.

His oeuvre as a painter includes many easel paintings of veduta scenes. He painted numerous works, like the present View of the Rialto and the Fish Market, Venice, that were objective depictions of actual sites. These charming scenes composed of relatively exact topographical elements are presented as romantic and gentle reminiscences for visitors to Venice. He also painted realistic views of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Piazza Navona, the Tiber, many other images of Venice. At the same time Fabris was painting imaginary capricci, often bringing together city views, contemporary buildings, ancient ruins in fantastic compositions that create a picturesque mixture of the old and the new, the real and the plausible, in line with the poetics of wonder that developed between the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries. These veduta or capriccios had become an autonomous figurative genre alongside history painting (sacred and profane), portraiture, battle scenes, landscape, still-life.

Much sought-after by contemporary collectors, in 1747 and 1757 the artist received exceptionally large payments for paintings “with ruins”. The popularity of such works by Fabris demonstrates the public’s high regard for his work. He was much appreciated by distinguished patrons, and in his old age he saw his achievements rewarded with a Royal Pension, and he was granted an apartment at the New Academy of Art in Charlottenburg. His activity as treatise writer extended the influence of his artistic theories to a wider audience of patrons and artists; he published the Instructions or Information on Lessons in Geometry, Perspective and Architecture, in Two Books (1759).