Painted and Engraved Vedute

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to elucidate the different functions and possibilities of painted and printed vedutas as well as their changing role, in the 18th Century, above all in the period between the journey of the Abbé de Saint-Non to Southern Italy (1759-1761) and the publication of the Voyage pittoresque (1781-1786). Special attention is given to the series of prints which illustrate places in a more comprehensive way, including life and natural ambiance, as opposed to attention concentrated on few monumental settings. Related to the Grand Tour, one observes the emergence of intermediate techniques, such as coloured line-engraving and water-colour contemporary to oil-paintings, as well as a return drawing. An interesting feature is that many travellers were accompanied by artists for their personal records or with the intention of a later publication.
Up to the mid-18th century, Naples and its environs had been generally the limit of the Grand Tour and also of the vedutas. At the origin of the Voyage pittoresque there is not only the enthusiasm for the Ancient World, but also a general interest in “difficult” regions in the periphery, like the Alps and the Near East. A parenthesis regards the significance of the term “pittoresque”, meandering on its migration through Europe.