Buommattei, Benedetto (1581–1647 or 1648) and Stefano della Bella (1610–1664).

[WITH DELLA BELLA'S STRIKING ETCHINGS INFLUENCED BY CALLOT] Descrizion[e] delle feste fatte in Firenze per la canonizzazione di S.to Andrea Corsini [Description of the festivities held in Florence for the canonization of St. Andrea Corsini].

Florence: nella Stamperia di Zanobi Pignoni, 1632. Quarto (20.8 × 15 cm). Contemporary limp vellum; [8], 86, [2] pp. including printed half-title, etched pictorial title, as well as the final leaf containing woodcut devite (of Giorgio Marescotti), errata, and colophon; historiated initials on pp. [6], [8], and 1. Illustrated throughout with twenty etchings by Stefano della Bella. Later manuscript title to spine in pencil; very minor wear to edges of boards; tiny closed tear to margin of title; p. 79/80 with small closed tear to margin; else a very good, wide-margined copy. Item #54765

First edition of this rare work documenting the festivities for the canonization of St. Andrea Corsini, which had already taken place in 1629. Pignoni's preface makes it clear that its appearance was delayed because of the outbreak of the bubonic plague in 1629 to 1631. The large-scale event included a festive procession into Santa Maria del Carmine, as depicted on the title page. The church was richly adorned and decorated, including a series of twenty paintings depicting scenes from Corsini's life and various miracles attributed to him, explained by poems by Alessandro Adimari; the event also included musical accompaniment, including by the famous organist and composer Girolamo Frescobaldi. The present work is illustrated with Stefano della Bella's etched interpretations of the original paintings. Measuring ca. 9.5 × 10.5 cm, the etchings are printed within the text. Each scene features a decorative border, as well as a combination of an engraved motto and allegorical motif inside a cartouche at the bottom. The accompanying text describes at length the various sonnets, mottos, and other words displayed during the festivities, dwelling on various emblems, symbols, and anagrams that shed further light on the life and miracles of Saint Corsini. The author was the Florentine priest Benedetto Buommattei (or Buonmattei, 1581–1648), a member of the Accademia della Crusca, as well as Professor of Tuscan, first at Pisa and then at Florence, where he also lectured on Dante and met John Milton in 1638. He also authored the important "Della lingua toscana" (1613).

The striking etchings are unsigned and were long attributed to Jacques Callot, who was active in Florence between 1612 and 1621. De Vesme later established them to have been the work of a still very young Stefano della Bella (1610–1664). They depict key episodes in the life of Andrea Corsini (1301–1374), the Bishop of Fiesole at his time of death, whose reputation for saintliness was based in part on his heroic works of mercy during the 1347 outbreak of the plague in Florence. A procession with his relics still takes place each year in Florence on his feast day.

Cicognara 1439. Gamba 2750. De Vesme/Massar, Stefano Della Bella, 884–904. Getty, Festival Collection, 94-B8960 (online catalog).

Price: €12,000.00

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