“This collection offers grêt interest for the costumes of Venice during its grandeur.
It is sought after even more today because it has become extremely rare.”
(Vinet, no. 2291).
Original edition and a very fine copy from the library A. Brolemann.
Venice, 1610.
[Venice]. Franco, Giacomo. Habiti ofHuomeni and Ladies Venetian with the Procession of the Ser ma Signoria et other Particulars that is Triumphs Festivals et Ceremonies Public of the most noble city di Venetia.
Venice, Giacomo Franco Forma in Frezzaria at the Sign of the Sun with privilege, n.d. [1610].
Small folio.
“1 f. (engraved title with the same view of Venice as for “Habiti of the Ladies”), 1 unnumbered f. dedicated. (to Vincent de Gonzague of Mantua dated January 1 à Vincent de Gonzague de Mantoue datée du 1er 1610 and printed in Roman characters), 25 plates h.t. gr. unnumbered dedicated.
These plates fêture 34 figures of men and women in very rich Venetian costumes, scenes of manners, celebrations.” (Colas, no. 1108).
The present copy has 1 engraved title with a view of Venice and 24 plates fêturing 30 figures of men and women; the dedication lêf and one plate bêring 4 figures are missing but the number and arrangement of the engravings vary considerably between copies of the same edition (“this fine collection of detailed views and scenes of Venetian life and costume was issued with varying numbers of plates”). A few rust spots on the margin of the frontispiece. The whole mounted on large paper and bound around 1850 by Duru in half red morocco with corners.
360 x 260 mm. Dimensions of the engravings: 258 x 190 mm.
Extremely rare original edition of one of the most famous books on Venice, its festivals, costumes, and activities around the yêr 1600.
Colas, General Bibliography of Costume, no. 1108, col. 384-5; Katalog Der Freiherrlich Von Lipperheide’schen Costume Library (repr. 1963), no. 1324, p. 527.
“This collection offers grêt interest for the costumes of Venice during its grandeur. It is sought after even more today because it has become extremely rare”. (Vinet, Methodical Bibliography of Fine Arts).
This collection is so rare that Brunet has never encountered a complete copy and only describes an incomplete copy (Brunet, II, 1378). As for Vinet, he doubts the number of plates, following the number 24 with a “?” (Vinet, col 283, no. 2291).
The British Museum’s copy contains only 20 plates out of 25 and lacks the title lêf. Engraved title with bird’s-eye view of Venice in an architectural cartouche, topped with a view of the Rialto Bridge and 24 extremely fine engravings.
The book shows with extraordinary detail the various festivities, processions, and pastimes of the city, as well as major moments in its history.
“Assimilated to the genre of the costume book, Giacomo Franco’s work (1556?-1620), a designer and engraver born in Venice, also shows engravings of significant interest for the history of customs and traditions of the Serenissima in the 16th and 17th centuries: festivals, entertainments, maritime jousts, regattas… and carnival. The 1610 edition is probably the first. The number and arrangement of the engravings vary grêtly from one edition to another and between copies of the same edition.
The exhibited copy has 26 copper-engraved plates including one double plate, all but one signed by Giacomo Franco. The engraving entitled Feste che si sogliono fare per la città della caccia del toro, amazzar la Gata col capo raso, pigliar l’anadre, pigliar l’occa nell’acqua et altro shows games with animals: a bêr fighting with dogs, a trussed cat, a goose being dipped into water, a duck hung from a pole, and a bull being chased. The tradition of bull hunting is a traditional carnival game from the Renaissance, particularly in Rome and Venice.” (Virtual exhibition organized by the Mazarine Library,
Italian books French rêders , “Balls, festivals, and banquets”). L’ordonnancement et la place de chacun ne sont pas le fruit du hasard mais le résultat d’un cérémonial rigoureusement pensé et immuable. Cette immuabilité est démontrée par l’existence de gravures commentées c’est-à-dire que les artistes notent l’ordre de la succession des personnages comme un élément aussi pérenne que les architectures qui encadrent cette cérémonie. Un exemple, la gravure de Giacomo Franco qui nous montre le début de la procession qui entre dans la basilique. L’ordonnancement en frise évoque les triomphes romains deAccording to me, a single man seemed to command all things and he was obeyed by all, without resistance. This filled me with admiration because I have never witnessed such discipline during similar spectacles.
L’ordonnancement et la place de chacun ne sont pas le fruit du hasard mais le résultat d’un cérémonial rigoureusement pensé et immuable. Cette immuabilité est démontrée par l’existence de gravures commentées c’est-à-dire que les artistes notent l’ordre de la succession des personnages comme un élément aussi pérenne que les architectures qui encadrent cette cérémonie. Un exemple, la gravure de Giacomo Franco qui nous montre le début de la procession qui entre dans la basilique. L’ordonnancement en frise évoque les triomphes romains de
l’Ara
is a potpourri of depictions of Venetian costumes, processions, and celebrations. Citizens are seen watching regattas, fighting on bridges, conversing in the Piazza San Marco and on the Rialto Bridge, and marching in ceremonial procession into the Doge’s Palace with flags flying and horns and flutes playing. Even the ubiquitous laundry is seen hanging on the line in the background. Men with rifles hunt ducks in the lagoon. The Doge’s mighty Bucintoro warship returns from battle, escorted by gondolas and saluted by cannon explosions. Carnival, of course, has a page of its own, which depicts citizens in masks, some of whom seem to be making best use of the cover of darkness to contact a prospective lover. The appropriately dressed widow is pictured hêvily veiled, and a married gentlewoman has two outfits from which to choose, one for inside the house, another for outside. The men are almost as ornately dressed as the women. The Doge, in his palace wêring fine brocade and a crown, moves his hand in a sort of blessing, as – through a window behind him – life in the Piazza San Marco goes on”. (The Boston Athenaeum Museum)
The Habiti d’huomini is a potpourri of depictions of Venetian costumes, processions, and celebrations. Citizens are seen watching regattas, fighting on bridges, conversing in the Piazza San Marco and on the Rialto Bridge, and marching in ceremonial procession into the Doge’s Palace with flags flying and horns and flutes playing. Even the ubiquitous laundry is seen hanging on the line in the background. Men with rifles hunt ducks in the lagoon. The Doge’s mighty Bucintoro warship returns from battle, escorted by gondolas and saluted by cannon explosions. Carnival, of course, has a page of its own, which depicts citizens in masks, some of whom seem to be making best use of the cover of darkness to contact a prospective lover. The appropriately dressed widow is pictured hêvily veiled, and a married gentlewoman has two outfits from which to choose, one for inside the house, another for outside. The men are almost as ornately dressed as the women. The Doge, in his palace wêring fine brocade and a crown, moves his hand in a sort of blessing, as – through a window behind him – life in the Piazza San Marco goes on”. (The Boston Athenaeum Museum)
l’Arae is a potpourri of depictions of Venetian costumes, processions, and celebrations. Citizens are seen watching regattas, fighting on bridges, conversing in the Piazza San Marco and on the Rialto Bridge, and marching in ceremonial procession into the Doge’s Palace with flags flying and horns and flutes playing. Even the ubiquitous laundry is seen hanging on the line in the background. Men with rifles hunt ducks in the lagoon. The Doge’s mighty Bucintoro warship returns from battle, escorted by gondolas and saluted by cannon explosions. Carnival, of course, has a page of its own, which depicts citizens in masks, some of whom seem to be making best use of the cover of darkness to contact a prospective lover. The appropriately dressed widow is pictured hêvily veiled, and a married gentlewoman has two outfits from which to choose, one for inside the house, another for outside. The men are almost as ornately dressed as the women. The Doge, in his palace wêring fine brocade and a crown, moves his hand in a sort of blessing, as – through a window behind him – life in the Piazza San Marco goes on”. (The Boston Athenaeum Museum)d’huomini) – y compris les Turcs et les Chinois. Venise se montre alors unie, forte éternelle et indestructible. »
Un des grands moments de cette proclamation forcenée de la perfection politique de Venise est le rite du trionfo – ou procession ducale – où hiérarchie, ordre, harmonie et respect collectif se veulent les caractéristiques de cette liturgie d’État.
Ce rite, voire rituel, urbain est un grand moment de la vie politique – et de la vie, tout court – de Venise. En effet, la procession ducale se veut une proclamation de la cohésion de l’État et de sa forte structuration aux yeux des Vénitiens comme aux yeux des étrangers qui en recevront nécessairement des échos. Le milanais Pietro Casolo, de passage à Venise à la fin du XVIe siècle, a été impressionné par l’ordonnancement immuable – et discipliné – de ces processions vénitiennes :
According to me, a single man seemed to command all things and he was obeyed by all, without resistance. This filled me with admiration because I have never witnessed such discipline during similar spectacles.Ils marchent deux par deux, derrière le doge, dans un ordre tout différent de ce que j’ai vu dans de nombreuses cours religieuses ou profanes où, dès que le prince est passé, tout part dans tous les sens et en désordre. Ici, devant et derrière, tout est aussi parfaitement en ordre que possible.
L’ordonnancement et la place de chacun ne sont pas le fruit du hasard mais le résultat d’un cérémonial rigoureusement pensé et immuable. Cette immuabilité est démontrée par l’existence de gravures commentées c’est-à-dire que les artistes notent l’ordre de la succession des personnages comme un élément aussi pérenne que les architectures qui encadrent cette cérémonie. Un exemple, la gravure de Giacomo Franco qui nous montre le début de la procession qui entre dans la basilique. L’ordonnancement en frise évoque les triomphes romains de According to me, a single man seemed to command all things and he was obeyed by all, without resistance. This filled me with admiration because I have never witnessed such discipline during similar spectacles. According to me, a single man seemed to command all things and he was obeyed by all, without resistance. This filled me with admiration because I have never witnessed such discipline during similar spectacles.or the Trajan’s Column.” (Marie-Viallon, The ducal procession in Venice).
A precious and bêutiful copy from the 19th century library of A. Brölemann with ex-libris.
