Giovanni Battista Pittoni was a printmaker, draftsman, and miniaturist from Vicenza, Italy. Although not much is known about his life or career, his surviving drawings and prints reveal a keen interest in the landscape, which often features ancient ruins inhabited by figures. His prints influenced his contemporaries, notably serving as a source of inspiration for landscape frescoes in villas across the Veneto region. For instance, Paolo Veronese incorporated some of Pittoni’s designs into the decorative programme he executed in the Villa Barbaro in Maser (c.1558), near Treviso. Pittoni also produced drawings as models for artists to use, of which this sheet is one. This idealised view of the Palatine Hill in Rome offers multiple, individual scenes of figures and architecture for artists to integrate into their compositions. On the upper left, an artist sketches the ruins. Below, figures emerge from a vaulted structure and disappear behind a wall that three others climb. His rendering of ancient architecture, exemplified by the precise depiction of the Septizonium at the centre of the sheet, reveals the influence of Hieronymus Cock, the successful Flemish printmaker and print publisher. During his time in Italy, Cock studied Roman architecture extensively and disseminated his observations through a widely circulated series of prints. Since there is no evidence that Pittoni ever visited Rome, it is likely that he drew inspiration for his architectural details from Cock’s engravings rather than from direct observation.

Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville, Paris (1680-1765); possibly his estate sale, P. Rémy (Paris), 18 - 28 January 1779, part of lot 178; Dr Alfred Scharf, London; purchased from him by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Disegni Veronesi del Cinquecento, Centro di Cultura e Civilta, Verona, 1971 (July)

Architectural Drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/07/1961-01/10/1961

Jenkins, Catherine, Nadine M. Orenstein and Freyda Spira (eds.), The Renaissance of etching, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2019
pp. 196-97

Disegni Veronesi del Cinquecento, Centro di Cultura e Civilita, Verona, 1971
no. 21
ill.

Architectural Drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1961
cat. no. 63

Watermark: Watermarks: unable to check drawing due to mount. Mount (historic), Verso: left centre: coat of arms? Something containing a crown. Right centre: countermark: “C D” or “G D”.

Inscription: Mount (historic), Verso: upper left corner, graphite, abraded and hard to read: “G.B” [?]; upper left, graphite, underlined: “5”; upper left, red chalk, underlined: “1122”; centre, graphite: “Settizonio di Severo, Palatino / a Roma / de’truit”; lower centre, dark brown ink: “Batista del Moro.”; lower centre, graphite, hard to read: “A/6”.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower left corner, pen and brown ink: Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville (L.2951), with inventory number “774”. Mount (historic), Recto: lower left, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).