During the last quarter of the XVIIIth century both in Italy and Europe it is remarkable the great diffusion of the interest in the culture and art of antiquity, often connected with the curiosity towards the natural sciences and the revival of Medieval work of arts. Among the different categories of antiquity, many patrons were interested apart from numismatics, also in collecting cameos and engraved gemstones, both in their original state or mounted in rings and jewels, let’s consider the well known cases of the prince Alberico XII of Belgiojoso-Este and the abbot Carlo Trivulzio in the Milanese area. They were not necessarly original antique items, but often Renaissance art works or even made by contemporary masters who carved not only new glyptic creations, but also real counterfeiting objects or copies. The unpublished collection of cameos and engraved gemstones owned by count Antonio Dati della Somaglia (1748-1816), part of a wider art patronage project, is studied in the present paper considering the international background and attempting to reconstruct the glyptic cabinet destiny after the owner’s death.
L’ultimo quarto del Settecento vede, in tutta la penisola italiana e in Europa, un’estrema proliferazione dell’antiquaria, spesso unita a un interesse verso le scienze naturali e la riscoperta dei “primitivi”. Nell’ambito degli interessi verso l’antichità, rientravano, oltre alla numismatica, anche cammei e pietre incise, sciolte o montate ad anello; si pensi, per l’ambiente milanese al principe Alberico XII di Belgiojoso d’Este e all’abate Carlo Trivulzio. Non si trattava necessariamente di manufatti antichi, ma spesso di oggetti di età rinascimentale o anche contemporanei, frutto di vere e proprie falsificazioni o riproduzioni. L’inedita raccolta di cammei e pietre incise del conte Antonio Dati della Somaglia (1748-1816), parte di un più ampio nucleo collezionistico, è analizzata nel contributo in esame all’interno di questo contesto, tentando di rintracciarne il percorso successivo alla morte del proprietario.
Tra gemme e pietre incise. La «Stima de’ camei, incisioni, scatole» di Antonio Dati della Somaglia
Laura Facchin
2016-01-01
Abstract
During the last quarter of the XVIIIth century both in Italy and Europe it is remarkable the great diffusion of the interest in the culture and art of antiquity, often connected with the curiosity towards the natural sciences and the revival of Medieval work of arts. Among the different categories of antiquity, many patrons were interested apart from numismatics, also in collecting cameos and engraved gemstones, both in their original state or mounted in rings and jewels, let’s consider the well known cases of the prince Alberico XII of Belgiojoso-Este and the abbot Carlo Trivulzio in the Milanese area. They were not necessarly original antique items, but often Renaissance art works or even made by contemporary masters who carved not only new glyptic creations, but also real counterfeiting objects or copies. The unpublished collection of cameos and engraved gemstones owned by count Antonio Dati della Somaglia (1748-1816), part of a wider art patronage project, is studied in the present paper considering the international background and attempting to reconstruct the glyptic cabinet destiny after the owner’s death.
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