Lot 82: Giovanni Battista Lusieri (c.1755-1821)

An extensive view of Rome from the Orti della Pineta Sacchetti signed and dated 'Titta Lusier 1780' black lead, black chalk, watermark J. Honig & Zoonen 117/8 x 167/8 in. (302 x 429 mm.) NOTES Another view of Rome from the same angle but farther away, from Monte Mario, was sold at Sotheby's London, 30 June 1986, lot 112. Another version of that view is in the Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna, (C.I.M. Williams, 'Lusieri's surviving works', The Burlington Magazine, 1982, pp. 492-6, fig. 22). The present view is taken from the orchard of Marchese Sacchetti, situated between the Vatican and Monte Mario. Two drawings by Lusieri of similar size and technique are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (J. Bean and W. Griswold, 18th Century Italian Drawings, New York, 1990, nos. 129-30). Lusieri, a native of Rome, moved to Naples in 1782 and there drew mainly views of Southern Italy for English tourists. In 1799 the seventh Earl of Elgin asked Lusieri to accompany him to Constantinople where he was to take his post as Ambassador. Lusieri afterwards remained in Athens as Elgin's agent in charge of collecting and shipping ancient Greek marbles for Elgin's collection. After Lusieri's death in Athens in 1821 Elgin bought about 140 drawings from the artist's family. Many were sold at Christie's London on 6 July 1965 and at Sotheby's London on 30 June 1986.