LEANING BELL TOWER OF PISA CATHEDRAL CHURCH ~ Old 1841 Art Print Engraving RARE!

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BAPTISTERY, CATHEDRAL, AND LEANING TOWERArtist: W. H. Bartlett ____________ Engraver: R. SandsNote: the title in the table above is printed below the engraving!!PRINT DATE : This engraving was printed in 1841; it is not a modern reproduction in any way.PRINT SIZE : Overall print size is 7 1/2 inches by 10 inches including white borders which are not shown in the scan above, the actual scene is 5 inches by 7 1/2 inches.PRINT CONDITION : Condition is excellent. Bright and clean. Blank on reverse. Paper is quality woven rag stock paper.SHIPPING : Buyer to pay shipping, domestic orders receives priority mail, international orders receive regular air mail unless otherwise asked for. Please allow time for personal check to clear. We take a variety of payment options, more payment details will be in our email after auction close.We pack properly to protect your item!FROM THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION : "Each ray that brightens, and each hue that falls,Attest some sacred sign upon those walls,Some sculptur'd saint's pale head-some graven lineOf promise, precept, or belief divine."The chief architectural records of Pisa stand in the same broad area-they are detached, removed considerably from all other objects, and the solitude that pervades the scene is in character with the deserted appearance of the whole city. But the group which forms the subject of the accompanying view, is the finest of this description in the world. The Duorno, or Cathedral, raised in 1603, from the design of Buschetto, may be regarded as the precursor of the revival of art. The prevailing feature throughout the exterior is the circular arch, which, rising from single columns, stunted, and of Greek orders, presents a combination sometimes found in Gothic and Saxon works. But the style is too impure for Greek, and rejects the clustered column and the Gothic arch, and, as it first appeared in Italy under the Lombard princes, their name may be employed to characterize it. The same style pervades the interior of the cathedral, which is divided into five aisles, and obeys the form of a Latin cross. Insulated columns of Oriental granite support a series of arches, on which a low and elliptic dome rests, and columns of like material and execution divide the noble aisles. Amongst the innumerable treasures of art and nature preserved here, the pulpit and altar, resting on porphyry pillars, are the most admired, but the gilded roof and great bronze doors are also objects of admiration. The Lombardic style also pervades the Baptistery, which is a rotunda of two stories, consisting of pillars and arches, supporting a third, terminating in pinnacles and pediments, above which a dome rises, intersected by lines of fretwork, and surmounted by a statue of John Baptist. The interior of the dome is famous for its echo, and the enclosure itself forms a whispering gallery. Storied arcades, with granite columns, as in the cathedral, sustain the dome, and the reading-desk and font beneath it, the workmanship of Nicolao Pisano, are the master-pieces of that celebrated artist. This singularly beautiful temple is after a design of Dioti Salvi, and was commenced in 1152 during the consulate of Cocco Griffi.The Campanile, or leaning tower, is one of the six splendid belfries of Italy. It has long been celebrated for its lightness, form, beauty of its marble, workmanship of its staircase, and deviation from perpendicularity. It is supposed, and with evident truth, that the architects, William of Inspruck and Bonnano of Pisa, having discovered the settlement that had taken place in the work, assured themselves by examination that the foundation would sink no further, and continued the structure on the original plan. The fact that the pillars of the lower stories are all of equal lengths, is confirmatory of this conclusion. The view from the summit is celebrated by travellers ', it embraces the city, Gampo Santo, the rugged mountains, and placid Mediterranean. The deviation of this famous tower assisted Galileo in finding a measure of time, and in calculating the fall of heavy bodies; nor was this scientific discovery the occasion of his exile from his native city, but his injudicious criticism of a piece of mechanism contrived by Don Giovanni de Medici.Please note: the terms used in our auctions for engraving, etching, aquatint, lithograph, plate, photogravure etc. are ALL prints on paper, and NOT blocks of steel or wood or any other material. "ENGRAVINGS", the term commonly used for these paper prints, were the most common method in the 1700s and 1800s for illustrating old books, and these paper prints or "engravings" were created by the intaglio process of etching the negative of the image into a block of steel, copper, wood etc, and then when inked and pressed onto paper, a print image was created. These prints or engravings were usually inserted into books, although many were also printed and issued as loose stand alone lithographs. They often had a tissue guard or onion skin frontis to protect them from transferring their ink to the opposite page and were usually on much thicker quality woven rag stock paper than the regular prints. So this auction is for an antique paper print(s), probably from an old book, of very high quality and usually on very thick rag stock paper.A RARE FIND! AND GREAT DECORATION FOR YOUR OFFICE OR HOME WALL. read more

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