細節
BENETTI, Giambattista. Survey of the Estates of the Abbazia di San Bartolo in the villages of Monestirolo, San Niccolo and Montesanto, near Ferrara. Ferrara: 2 May 1793.
Large oblong 2° (490 x 730mm). Manuscript survey, on paper, 64 leaves comprising dedication, explanation of colouring, general map of the three villages, map of each village, 24 detailed plans of estates, 4 explanatory leaves, 2 land ownership index leaves at end, with 24 blank leaves facing the pages of detailed plans and 4 blank leaves bound in at end. Each leaf with black rule and green wash borders (except dedication), text leaves with elaborate decorative borders, the maps profusely decorated, the titles in banners, north arrows impaling and decorated with birds, moths, dragons, snakes, putti and bows, each plan with scale bars in Ferrara perches('pertiche') decorated or incorporated into architectural and rural landscape vignettes on the themes of gardening, hunting and riverine trade, each detailed estate plan with arable land under the papal taxing system ('decima') coloured in red, land not under 'decima' (principally field boundaries, trees and pasture) in green, with inset texts detailing the land ownership so delineated and its area in 'stava'. Very fine original green morocco over pasteboard, elaborate roll-tooled border of bird and shell decoration enclosing central panel with onlaid border of red morocco tooled in gilt, floral inner cornerpieces, central gilt arms of Domenico Bottoni, spine in 8 compartments decorated with floral tools, pink silk endpapers, gilt and gauffered edges (corners and extremities very slightly scuffed).
AN ATTRACTIVE AND ELABORATE SURVEY of the estates of the Abbazia di san Bartoli made and drawn by the Ferrarese surveyor Giambattista Benetti for Domenico Bottoni. The survey of the estate was ordered by Bottoni to challenge the papal taxation (decima) as set out in an earlier survey of Luiga Passega drawn up on behalf of the Reverendia Camera Apostolica. The estate of the Abbey of San Bartoli in the fertile valley of the Po di Primaro, 10 kms south of Ferrara, had been given (or probably sold) to Bottoni and his heirs by the Pope but still required a 10 papal taxation (decima) on the arable produce, which was significant on these rich riverine lands. The survey aims to reallocate a large proportion of land (coloured green on the maps), previously considered arable, but in fact under grass, trees or pathways. The survey comes at an interesting time in the history of the Papal States. Ferrara and the estates around had been annexed to the states of the church in 1590, on the pretext that Cesare d'Este, the heir apparent, was illegitimate, but in the 1780s Pius VI (1775-1799) had tried to maximise the revenue of all his estates to avoid bankruptcy. The Pope came under increasing political and financial pressure from the French, particularly after the french revolution, when the French government expropriated and sold ecclesiastical property and in 1791 annexed Avignon and Venaissin. Such losses of income crucially weakened the Papacy and finally in the Treaty of Tolentino in February 1797 following Bonaparte's invasion of Italy, the Pope surrendered his claims to Avignon, Venaissin, Bologna, Ferrara and Romagna. This survey was drawn up in the early 1790s prior to the French invasion and shows how the authority of the Pope was being threatened from within Italy. The high quality of the survey and the artistry of the decoration of the maps shows Benetti to be a fine surveyor and Bottoni a rich patron.
CONTENTS
The survey comprises:
Two preliminary leaves: Dedication leaf to Domenico Bottoni, with elaborate chinoiserie-style border incorporating the Bottoni arms;
Spiegazione dei colori (explanation of colouring), the text in an elaborate architectural surround, with green wash margins.
Section one: general map Corografia della villa di Monestirolo, facing descriptive indice decorated with an elaborate 'pergola' surround of flowers, birds and insects and 4 detailed estate plans.
Section two: general map Corografia della villa di San Niccolo, facing descriptive indice set in a decorative column and architrave surround, and 16 detailed estate plans.
Section Three: general map Corografia della villa di Montesanto, facing indice, set within a birdcage surround, including parrots, peacock, rabbits, lion and fox, and 4 detailed estate plans.
At the end are 4 leaves comprising a general map of the three villages Corografia generale delle tre ville Monestirolo, San Niccolo, e Montesanto, with facing indice listing land under the decima taxing system, set in chinoiserie-style border with putti below holding papal tiara, with angel above holding a gilded medallion of Pope Pius VI; Epilogo on a single leaf listing landowners previously under the decima tax system, the text set within an elaborate trompe-l'oeil wall of library shelves, with a gentleman (Zanardi?) seated at work; followed by a leaf Elenco generale listing all the landholders registered in the survey, the 5 column list set on a background of papal robes and tiara with room surround, the verso with a 14-line notarial endorsements by Joseph Sterzi and Joseph Bertelli of Ferrara, with stamp and wax seal, dated 14th September 1793.
Included with the lot is a continuation of the survey by Bettini, dated Ferrara, 2 November 1793, manuscript on paper, 8° (244 x 165mm), 26 leaves (dedication, explanation of colouring, 9 plans each with accompanying explanatory text, 2-leaf epilogue and poem, 4 blank leaves). Contemporary Italian mottled calf, gilt. (2)
Large oblong 2° (490 x 730mm). Manuscript survey, on paper, 64 leaves comprising dedication, explanation of colouring, general map of the three villages, map of each village, 24 detailed plans of estates, 4 explanatory leaves, 2 land ownership index leaves at end, with 24 blank leaves facing the pages of detailed plans and 4 blank leaves bound in at end. Each leaf with black rule and green wash borders (except dedication), text leaves with elaborate decorative borders, the maps profusely decorated, the titles in banners, north arrows impaling and decorated with birds, moths, dragons, snakes, putti and bows, each plan with scale bars in Ferrara perches('pertiche') decorated or incorporated into architectural and rural landscape vignettes on the themes of gardening, hunting and riverine trade, each detailed estate plan with arable land under the papal taxing system ('decima') coloured in red, land not under 'decima' (principally field boundaries, trees and pasture) in green, with inset texts detailing the land ownership so delineated and its area in 'stava'. Very fine original green morocco over pasteboard, elaborate roll-tooled border of bird and shell decoration enclosing central panel with onlaid border of red morocco tooled in gilt, floral inner cornerpieces, central gilt arms of Domenico Bottoni, spine in 8 compartments decorated with floral tools, pink silk endpapers, gilt and gauffered edges (corners and extremities very slightly scuffed).
AN ATTRACTIVE AND ELABORATE SURVEY of the estates of the Abbazia di san Bartoli made and drawn by the Ferrarese surveyor Giambattista Benetti for Domenico Bottoni. The survey of the estate was ordered by Bottoni to challenge the papal taxation (decima) as set out in an earlier survey of Luiga Passega drawn up on behalf of the Reverendia Camera Apostolica. The estate of the Abbey of San Bartoli in the fertile valley of the Po di Primaro, 10 kms south of Ferrara, had been given (or probably sold) to Bottoni and his heirs by the Pope but still required a 10 papal taxation (decima) on the arable produce, which was significant on these rich riverine lands. The survey aims to reallocate a large proportion of land (coloured green on the maps), previously considered arable, but in fact under grass, trees or pathways. The survey comes at an interesting time in the history of the Papal States. Ferrara and the estates around had been annexed to the states of the church in 1590, on the pretext that Cesare d'Este, the heir apparent, was illegitimate, but in the 1780s Pius VI (1775-1799) had tried to maximise the revenue of all his estates to avoid bankruptcy. The Pope came under increasing political and financial pressure from the French, particularly after the french revolution, when the French government expropriated and sold ecclesiastical property and in 1791 annexed Avignon and Venaissin. Such losses of income crucially weakened the Papacy and finally in the Treaty of Tolentino in February 1797 following Bonaparte's invasion of Italy, the Pope surrendered his claims to Avignon, Venaissin, Bologna, Ferrara and Romagna. This survey was drawn up in the early 1790s prior to the French invasion and shows how the authority of the Pope was being threatened from within Italy. The high quality of the survey and the artistry of the decoration of the maps shows Benetti to be a fine surveyor and Bottoni a rich patron.
CONTENTS
The survey comprises:
Two preliminary leaves: Dedication leaf to Domenico Bottoni, with elaborate chinoiserie-style border incorporating the Bottoni arms;
Spiegazione dei colori (explanation of colouring), the text in an elaborate architectural surround, with green wash margins.
Section one: general map Corografia della villa di Monestirolo, facing descriptive indice decorated with an elaborate 'pergola' surround of flowers, birds and insects and 4 detailed estate plans.
Section two: general map Corografia della villa di San Niccolo, facing descriptive indice set in a decorative column and architrave surround, and 16 detailed estate plans.
Section Three: general map Corografia della villa di Montesanto, facing indice, set within a birdcage surround, including parrots, peacock, rabbits, lion and fox, and 4 detailed estate plans.
At the end are 4 leaves comprising a general map of the three villages Corografia generale delle tre ville Monestirolo, San Niccolo, e Montesanto, with facing indice listing land under the decima taxing system, set in chinoiserie-style border with putti below holding papal tiara, with angel above holding a gilded medallion of Pope Pius VI; Epilogo on a single leaf listing landowners previously under the decima tax system, the text set within an elaborate trompe-l'oeil wall of library shelves, with a gentleman (Zanardi?) seated at work; followed by a leaf Elenco generale listing all the landholders registered in the survey, the 5 column list set on a background of papal robes and tiara with room surround, the verso with a 14-line notarial endorsements by Joseph Sterzi and Joseph Bertelli of Ferrara, with stamp and wax seal, dated 14th September 1793.
Included with the lot is a continuation of the survey by Bettini, dated Ferrara, 2 November 1793, manuscript on paper, 8° (244 x 165mm), 26 leaves (dedication, explanation of colouring, 9 plans each with accompanying explanatory text, 2-leaf epilogue and poem, 4 blank leaves). Contemporary Italian mottled calf, gilt. (2)