Antonio Acquaroni (Civitavecchia, 1800 - Rome, 1874)

Antonio Acquaroni (Civitavecchia, 1800 - Rome, 1874) Arch of Septimius Severus; View of Campo Vaccino Brown watercolor on engraved lines on paper, 145 mm x 182 mm; 146 mm x 186 mm These two watercolor-painted cards on engraved lines depicting the Arch of Septimius Severus and the Campo Vaccino with its characteristic Church of San Lorenzo de' Speziali in Miranda, formerly the temple of Antoninus and Faustina, were created by the Roman designer and engraver Antonio Acquaroni around 1828. A student of Francesco Giangiacomo (1784-1864), Acquaroni carried out most of his work in the service of the Calcografia Camerale, an institution founded in 1738 by Pope Clement XII with the aim of producing, disseminating and preserving images created for the specific task of witnessing the rich ancient and modern heritage of the Eternal City. Numerous Roman views printed by Acquaroni are known, famous for the extreme documentary fidelity of the place represented. The original matrices were made for the album "Nuovi punti delle più interessanti vedute di Roma disegnate ed incise a contorno da Antonio Acquaroni e da altri buoni artisti" (New points of the most interesting views of Rome drawn and engraved in outline by Antonio Acquaroni and other good artists), a volume printed in Rome by Deodato Minelli in 1828 (a copy of which was sold at auction by Christie's on December 15, 2005, lot 56). The two works are characterized by the presence of a delicate and poetic watercolor stroke that deliberately brings the engraving closer to that of a drawing for the achieved final quality. The skillful use of watercolor on the engraving allowed the artist to characterize and slightly differentiate the prints according to requirements. In fact, other watercolor engravings are known deriving from the same drawings originally made for the album published by Deodato Minelli in 1828, testifying to a precise modus operandi adopted by the artist. Acquaroni initially started from a subject from which he drew two or more copper plates, on which he engraved a common drawing that varied at a later time directly on the plate during the etching process, and based on its final purpose. For the plate intended for a purely documentary market (such as that of the Calcografia Camerale) he enriched it and completed it with details as faithful as possible to the place represented, vice versa for the engravings completed in watercolor the plate was left with only the engraving of the general drawing, in anticipation of making the necessary artistic effects at a later time. In this way, an artwork was created from the same drawing that was differentiated based on the need. Thus, extremely interesting results were obtained that also allowed the artist to experiment with curious temporal and light effects.