La Venaria Reale, Palazzo di piacere e di caccia ideato dall'Altezza Reale di Carlo Emanuele II, Duca di Savoia.

Bookseller Notes

A splendid copy of this beautiful and richly illustrated monograph (Cicognara: 'Libro assai bello') about La Venaria Reale, the palace just outside Turin which began as a hunting lodge and grew into a sprawling estate under the tenure of the Dukes of Savoy.The text takes the form of an imaginary dialogue between the work's author, architect and first ducal engineer, Amedeo di Castellamonte (1618- 1683) and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). It describes the estate's development: La Venaria was first built in 1658 as a lodge, designed by Castellamonte for Charles Emmanuel II who needed a base for his hunting expeditions in the hills north of Turin. Over time, it evolved into a masterpiece of Baroque architecture, becoming a luxurious residence for successive generations of the House of Savoy. The book's marvellous illustrations many of which take the form of large folding plates - reproduce the estate in microcosm. Engravings - including works by Tasnire - depict Castellamonte's architecture, the palace gardens, interiors and original artworks. At the heart of the complex - as at the heart of the book - is the Sala di Diana, an ornate atrium decorated with stucco and paintings on the theme of hunting. Its huge frescoed vault was painted by the celebrated Flemish artist Jan Miel (1599-1663). Miel was originally one of the 'Bamboccianti', the circle of Dutch and Flemish genre painters in Rome. He became de facto estate artist of the Venaria, producing many works for the interior of the palace which are reproduced here. These include his fresco for the vaulted Sala di Diana, which represents Olympus with Jupiter offering a gift to Diana, as well as several of his hunting themed canvases, including L'Andar al bosco, L'Assemblea, Il Lasciar correre, and La Curea. Other illustrations here are from originals by Baroncelli and Sacchetti, and include ducal equestrian portraits, Acteon mid-metamorphosis, and various magnificent hunting scenes. Many of the paintings and interiors reproduced here may still be seen in situ. The estate fell into disuse at the end of the eighteenth century, and was used as a barracks during the Napoleonic Wars, but in the twentieth century was the subject of the largest restoration project in European history; La Venaria Reale reopened to the public in 2007.As Schwedt states, 'copies of this book, with plates complete, are difficult to find'. The plates in the present copy are bound in a unique order, as is common. For example, the portrait of Diana after Saccheti is bound with the preliminary plates.From the library of Richard Luckett, Pepys Librarian, Magdalene, Cambridge, with his neat typographical book label designed by Will Carter of the Rampant Lions Press.Relatively common in US institutions, but only Courtauld, V & A, Oxford, BL and National Trust according to WorldCat.