SERMARTELLI Michelangelo Alcune composizioni di diversi autori in lode del ritratto della Sabina, Scolpito in Marmo dall’Eccellentissimo M. Giovanni Bologna, posto nella piazza del Serenissimo Grand Duca di Toscana.

USTC 805784 ; Mortimer, Italian, II, 478 ; Cicognara, I, 1016 ; Thieme-Becker, IV, pp. 249, 252.

First edition of this illustrated collection of verses in praise of Giambologna’s sculpture, the Rape of a Sabine.

An exceptional copy with the first quire (the preface) in first state with errors corrected in brown ink just like the British Library copy. This variation in condition has hitherto been unreported in bibliographies.

One of the most important books in the history of sculpture: The Abduction of Sabina aroused immediate admiration. Giambologna’s famous sculpture had remained untitled until it was described by the poets in this book.

Giambologna (1529-1608) was Italy’s greatest Mannerist sculptor. Henry Ogden Avery considers this monumental sculpture to be ‘the pinnacle of his career as a marble sculptor’ (Avery Architectural Library). The work was unveiled on 15 January 1583 to unanimous acclaim. This colossal statue soon became known as the Abduction of the Sabine.

Bernardo Vecchietti (1514-1590), Giambologna’s famous client, financed the publication of this book in October 1583. The work contains poems of praise, as well as three woodcuts.

These poems, in praise of Giambologna’s masterpiece, were written by Vincenzo Alamanni (1536-1590), the Medici ambassador to the French court, Bernardo Vecchietti, Bernardo Davanzati (1529-1606), the translator of Tacitus, Cosimo Gaci (1550-1619), a poet who translated the works of Teresa of Avila, the knight Gualtieri, a poet from Arezzo, Piero di Gherardo Capponi, and others. Giambologna’s work was intended to inspire writing. Such an approach to a sculpted work was completely new and called for a certain ingegno. Part of the spirit of this sculpture lies in the various possible interpretations of its complex execution. The statue was designed so that the scene depicted would change depending on the angle from which it was viewed.

The illustrations

The book is illustrated with three magnificent full-page engravings, two of which show the Sabine sculpture viewed from two different angles, and a very precise view of the famous Piazza showing the new sculpture installed in situ alongside those already there.

Slight stains.

Provenance: Bernard Malle (discreet stamp).