Italy - Rome; Giovanni Battista Falda (Valduggia

Of extraordinary perspectival precision and fineness of line, typical of Master G.B. Falda, renowned for having documented the Baroque face of papal Rome. The work illustrates the monumental rusticated portal at the entrance to the Santo Spirito in Sassia Complex, commissioned by Pope Alexander VII Chigi (whose heraldic coat of arms overlooks the Latin dedicatory inscription at the top of the arch). The portal originally stood on the side of Via della Lungara (Longhara), prior to the later nineteenth-century urban demolitions. The scene is enriched in the foreground by caricatures in period costumes that impart liveliness and realism to the architectural view. The print is complete and bears a well-defined copper-engraving impression. It shows the usual signs of time along the outer white margins (slight yellowing/foxing).

Estimate:$1.12

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