Pietro-Antonio MARTINI

(1738 Trecasali – 1797 Parma)

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Les Precautions – 1777

after Jean-Michel Morreau le Jeune

Etching and engraving. Plate 14 from the 2nd part of the series «Le Monument du Costume». First state before letters. Some annotations in pencil at the lower edge of the sheet and verso.

Size of sheet: 49.5 x 35.5 cm.

Lawrence and Dighton 220 (I/IV); Portalis & Beraldi vol.3, p.31; Bocher 1349.II.

Comparative impressions: British Museum – inv.no.1925,0114.14.

Beautiful and well-printed impression on laid paper with generous margins around platemark. Minor time staining to the sheet edges and very soft handling creases in places, otherwise in excellent condition.

Pietro-Antonio Martini: Les Precautions

This celebrated series centres on the fashion, interiors and etiquette of the wealthy French elite. The original idea for “Le Monument du costume” came from an entrepreneur Johann Heinrich Eberts, who at first contemplated nothing more ambitious than a set of fashion-plates, however, this project turned into a sort of a story with a great deal of vitality and life. The first twelve plates were engraved after Freudenberg and published in 1775. The following twenty-four plates, engraved after Moreau, had been published in two separate sets of twelve prints each: 'Seconde suite d'Estampes...' (1777) and 'Troisième suite d'Estampes...' (1783). Moreau managed to carry the designs a great deal farther from an artistic point of view (Neville, p.17).

Pietro-Antonio Martini: Les Precautions

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