Please help me identify

Dear Antique Lovers,

I got this beautiful antique 17th century piece in Sicily and would love to know the history behind it.


Could anyone please help me?


Thank you



https://imgur.com/gallery/MLHlIk5


https://www.reddit.com/r/Antiques/c..._love/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=shar

 

Still learning how to use these forums properly

 

https://www.grosvenorprints.com/stock_detail.php?ref=21946

An engraving. There are differences between the print in the link and yours. Yours may be a later re-strike, which will affect the value. Is there any small printing right under the image (especially at the corners)?

Maria Christina di Borbone was around in the early 19th C, so this print is likely from the 2nd quarter of the 1800s.

 

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Hey there, thanks so much for the links. It's nice to finally have a bit of a backstory to this piece. Wonderful!

I don't really know what you mean by small printing in the corners, but I have uploaded more close ups if it helps you to determine this. Is this a Carlo Labruzzi? Just did some googling, it does seem very similar.

PICS here ----> https://imgur.com/gallery/JbxTjgu

I am so curious to know what its worth actually, but would be very reluctant to sell this because it's stunning

Thank you so much by the way, really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

L

 

The Grosvenor link tells most of the story. The print shown in that link is a title page, the title of the publication replacing the inscription that is shown on the central monument in your print.

The link says that the drawings were by Abruzzi, and Abruzzi personally engraved 24 of the printing plates, but it doesn't say which plates.

The titles under your print are different from the titles under the print in the link.

My guess is that the original drawing by Abruzzi ended up in the collection of Maria Christina di Borbone. Whether your print is from Abruzzi's original printing plate, whether that is one of the plates he engraved, whether the image was re-engraved, I do not know. I think it is safe to say the original drawing started with Abruzzi. That drawing was published as a print, and who prepared the printing plate, I do not know. The difference in titles shows that the image was published more than once.

Sometimes pictorial credits were published with the print as small inscriptions under the image, usually at the corners. Here are examples from an unrelated print:




Are there any markings at the corners of your print? There might also be a fine line of print right at the bottom of the sheet (and there might not be).

As far as value is concerned: Grosvenor is asking £1250 for a title page and an additional 8 plates from the original publication. Yours appears to be in better condition, which is a plus, but comes from a later date, which is a minus... and it is only one print. Being nicely framed should help.