ITALIAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



of lines, yet not very fuccersfully, and we are obliged to 

 fay of his numerous prodiiftions, that the extremities of his 

 figures in general are but poorly marked, and his drawing, 

 though not very incorreit, is fomctimcs lieavy. Among his 

 engravings the following are hold in moil eileem. The Ve- 

 rofpian gallery, conlilhag of feventeen folio plates, including 

 the title, from Albano, publill\ed at Rome in 1704 ; " The 

 Virgin fitting under a Tree feeding the Infant Chrill," from 

 L. Caracci ; « A Holy Family, with the Infant naked in 

 the Arms of the Virgin," from Carlj) Maratti, both in folio ; 

 " The Alfumption of th; Virgin," dedicated to pope Cle- 

 ment XI. ; and " The Judgment of Paris," dedicated to 

 the marquis Pallavicino, both from the fame mailer, of folio 

 jizi ; " La Zmgare," or the Repofe in Egypt, where the 

 Holy Virgin is roprcfented in Egyptian attire, from Correg- 

 gio, in large foho; a middlinglized upright plate of " The 

 D-fcent of the Holy Gholl," from Guido, very rare; " Po- 

 lypheme on a Rock, and Galatea on the Water with 

 Nymphs," a folio print ; " Polypheme hurling a Rock 

 af'er Acis and Galatea," in two plates. A fet of fix, in- 

 cluding the title, from pictures in the chapel of St. Ann, 

 in the church of the Madonna, at Monte Santo, from 

 Nicolo Bcretoni, in folio. The firil and fecond plates for 

 ithe Crozat colleclion, one reprcfentiiig '• Venus," the other 

 " Pallas," from antique paintings, in large folio, and the 

 celebrated Centaurs (known by the name of Furietto), done 

 by Arilleas and Papiasof Aphrodifium ; and preRrvedin the 

 mufeum Clementinum, from drawings by P. Batluni, and N. 

 Honophri, in large folio. 



Giofeffo Diamantini was born at Romania A. D. iTjrto, 

 and fpent the greater part of his life at Venice, where he 

 died in the yeai- 1722. Heinnekin, who has le't us a cata- 

 logue of his etchings, feems to fay of this mailer, that his 

 greatcll praife was having inllructed Rofa Alba Carriera. 

 Yet, according to Strutt, who profeil'es, however, to have 

 feen but few of his works, " Diamantini etched in a free maf- 

 terly ilyle, with a fine point ; the defigns are fpirited ; 

 the actions of the figures are often very graceful, and 

 the heads and other extremities of them drawn in a fupe- 

 rior ftyle." 



He was honoured with the title of chevalier, and hence 

 he often marked his prints, " Eques Diamantinus in. f." The 

 following are among the beft of his works, almoil all from 

 his own compofions. " Hagar in the Defert," in an oval, 

 of quarto' fize ; " A Holy Family, with St. John," in folio ; 

 " The Marriage of Canaan," from Paul Veronefe, in folio ; 

 " The dead Body of Chrill, fupported on the Tomb by 

 an Angel," in an oval, dedicated to Gregorio Fab. ; " Dido 

 on the Funeral Pile, with Diana or Iris in the Air," 

 in an odlagon ; " Venus, Ceres, and Pomona,' dedicated 

 to D. D. Ferdinand ; "Mercury and Flora in the Air," 

 dedicated to D. Aloyfis Pifani ; " Night purfued by Phof- 

 phorus, or the Morning Star," dedicated to Marc Angela 

 Flavio C'lmmeni ; " Tiie Sphere, or Ailrono.my," dedicated 

 to Angelis, all of folio lize ; " Siiturn, or a river God, with 

 two Cupids," uf octagon form ; a middling-li/.ed upright 

 print of " The Fj!1 of Pliaeton ;" a fmall oftagonal print 

 of " Mercury a, d Argus ;" " Venus and Adonis," an oda- 

 gon ; another '• Venus and Adonis," in quarto; a fmall 

 octagon of "^Jupiter and the Republic of Venice;" a fma'l 

 upright print >( •' Time, or a river God fitting, and a Child, 

 with Ills Eyi'S banded, lying near bim, accompanied by a 

 Mufe ;" a middling-Czed upright orint ot " Tiine and 

 Flora, crowned by a Ge'ius;" " Strength, or Hercules 

 fitting by a Nymph, accompanied by Plenty," in an ofta- 

 gon ; a fmall upright print of " Mars and Venus ;" two 

 more fmall uprights of " Diana a:id Eiidvmion ;" aud 

 6 



"The Sacrilicc of Iphigenia ;" "Boreas llcafing avrz.f' 

 Oritiirea," in a folio oCtagon ; a Imalloval print of " Juilicil 

 and Peace ;" four fmall upright emblematical I'ubjefts ; two 

 large fquare ditto ; and two other emblematical fubjeds, ona 

 a large hexagonal plate, and the other an ova!. 



Giofeffo Niccolo Nafini was born at a fliort diiVancc from 

 Sienna, A.D. i66o. He learned the rudiments of art from 

 his father Francilco N:\fini, but was fent to Rome at the 

 age of eighteen, and entered the fchool of Ciro Ferri, under 

 whom he iludied two years, and acquired not only great 

 command of the pencil, but a fine talle tor dellgn. He was re- 

 commended by his mailer to tiie grand duke Cofmo HI., 

 for whom ho copied the pidures of Pietro da Cortona, in 

 the Pitti palace ; in which he fueceeded fo well, that the 

 duke rewarded' lam very handibmely. He was hkewile ho- 

 noured with knighthood by the eui;eror Leopold, and had 

 many other favours conferred on him by the great. 



The ilyle of Nafini bears fome refemblance to that of 

 Paul Veronefe. He died at Sienna in 1 7:^6, aged feventy- 

 fix. We have one fmall upright etching by this artitl, re- 

 prcfenting " The Virgin with the Infant Chrill and St, 

 John," from a compoiition of liia own. 



Cxfar Fantetti was born at Florence A.D 1660. The time 

 of his dcccafe has not been recorded, and of the events of his- 

 life it is only known that he worked at Rome after various ■ 

 Italian mailers. 



He engraved, in conjundion with Pietro Aqui'a, the 

 paintings in the Vatican, known under the name of Raphael's ■ 

 Bible ; the firil thirty-fix, and the fortieth, are etched by 

 him, and the remaining fiitcen by P. Aquiia. F.inte:ti alfo ' 

 engraved " Chriil praying m the Garden of Olives," in ■ 

 folio, from L. Cavacci '; "Charity, with Two Cliildren," " 

 from Ann. Caracci ; " Latona ini.illed by Niobe,'' in large 

 folio, from tiie fame painter ; " The Death of St. Ann," ' 

 of the fame fize, from Andrea Sacchi ; and >' Flora fur- 

 rounded with Cupids in the Air,'' from Ciro F'.ni ; in an 

 oval of foho fize. 



Francifco Bruni was a nntive of Genoa, and an engraver. 

 He was born in the year 1660, and died in 1726, but we 

 are not acquainted with the par ticuiars of his life, and we 

 only know of the following print by him, " The Alfump- 

 tion of the Virgin," in large folio, from Guido. 



Lodovico Mattioli was born A.D. 1662, at Crcvalcone, 

 in the principality of Malferdn, and died at Bologna i-.i 174J. 

 At an early age he was fent to itudy in the Ichool of Carlo 

 Cignani. He drew with a pen in a very pleafing ftyle ; and 

 etched from his own compofitionsand iliofe ot ;lie Caraccii, 

 and other gre..t mailers, but ei'petiahy after G. M. Creipi, 

 with whom he contracted a very iniimite fricndlhip. Among 

 the etchnigs of Mattioli, the following will be found molt 

 worthy of notice : a landfcape, with ruins and figures, itt ■ 

 quarto ; " The Aniiunciation," from L. Caracci, of the ' 

 fame fize, a very rare print ; " The Circumcifion," in fo!i(> 

 from the fame ; " The Nativity," from Aug. Caracci, of 

 the fame fize ; " The good Samaritan," irom Ann. Ci« 

 racci ; "The Dexth of St. Jofeph," from Francefciiini j - 

 " The Martyrdom of St. Peter," from Crefpi ; a figure 

 of " St. Anthony," andanother of •' St. Vincent Ferreri," 

 all of folio fize, from Crefpi ; " St. Luke," a note of inv'» 

 tation en.;raveJ by Crefpi, a.d re-engraved by Mattioli, 

 And the figures for the poem of Bcrtoldo con Bertoldin< , 

 in twenty ihects, were drawn by Crefpi, and engraved uiidif 

 the direction of Mattioli. 



William da I.,eone was born at Parma in the year 1664. 

 He etched, from his own dcfigcs, two fets of anim;ds, which 

 are executed in a fpirited ilyle, and with fome talle ; we are 

 able only to fpccify, in addition to thefe, the following en. 



graviugs 



