Nå samlare över hela världen med din auktion!
Lista er auktionGenom att prenumerera godkänner du integritetspolicyn. Avprenumerera när som helst.
Barnebys HQ
Brahegatan 10
BOX 5038
114 37 Stockholm
Alla auktioner / Böcker, Kartor och Texter / Affò - Vita del Pittore Francesco Mazzola - 1784
PARMIGIANINO, THE GENIUS OF GRACE: AFFÒ’S BIOGRAPHY IN THE PARMA BODONIAN OF 1784 ABSTRACT An important eighteenth-century biography of Francesco Mazzola, called Parmigianino, published in Parma in 1784 by the historian and librarian Ireneo Affò. A foundational work for reconstructing the life, training, and activity of one of the leading figures of Italian Mannerism. Printed by Filippo Carmignani in the Parmense printing milieu dominated by the aesthetic revolution of Giambattista Bodoni, with elegant Bodoni-inspired typefaces. Affò corrects previous traditions, compares Vasari and other biographers, and collects testimonies, inscriptions, and notices about the painter’s works. An edition of particular interest to collectors of Parmigianino, art history, Parmense bibliography, and Italian eighteenth-century typography. WHY TO BUY PARMIGIANINO – A monograph entirely devoted to Francesco Mazzola, the absolute protagonist of Mannerism and author of masterpieces such as the Madonna with the Long Neck and Self-Portrait within a Convex Mirror. IRENEO AFFÒ – A study by one of the major Parmense scholars of the eighteenth century, vice-prefect of the Parma Library, and author of important historical-artistic researches based on examination of sources. PARMA 1784 AND BODONIAN TYPES – An elegant product of the Parmense printing environment during Bodoni’s heyday, printed by Filippo Carmignani with typefaces of evident Bodonian taste. FIRST EDITION – Original edition of Affò’s monograph, dedicated to Ferdinand of Bourbon, Duke of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, an important document of the eighteenth-century rediscovery of Renaissance masters. MARKET VALUE The first edition of the Life of the charming painter Francesco Mazzola is sought after mainly by collectors of art history, Parmigianino, Mannerism, and Parmense typography. Interest increases for the elegant 1784 print and for the stylistic relationship with Bodoni’s production. In the condition of the photographed copy, with pages generally good and marginable but binding modest and heavily worn, I would estimate an indicative antique value of €400–600. A copy in a prestigious period binding or particularly fresh may command higher prices. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION Contemporary or antique cardboard binding with boards covered in marbled paper and a plain paper spine with a handwritten title. Binding heavily worn, with significant abrasions, gaps at the spine, loss of part of the covering, corners and edges worn, and binding stitches partially exposed. The body of the volume remains intact. Text in neoclassical typesetting, with characters attributable to the Bodoni cultural typography of eighteenth-century Parma. Pages with some physiological foxing and small stains. There is an ancient handwritten note on the final leaf. Genuine copy, with some wormholes in various points. In old books, with a centuries-long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visualizations. Refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. Images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 8; 112; (2). FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR Vita del graziosissimo pittore Francesco Mazzola. Parma, presso Filippo Carmignani, 1784. Ireneo Affò. CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE The Life of Parmigianino by Ireneo Affò belongs to the great eighteenth-century era of Italian art historiography, when erudition progressively transformed into documentary research and source criticism. Francesco Mazzola, called Parmigianino, had already found a place in Giorgio Vasari’s Lives and in subsequent art literature. Affò, however, seeks to go beyond simple repetition of previous biographies: he compares testimonies, discusses attributions, examines inscriptions and local memories, and attempts to correct chronological errors handed down by earlier authors. The relationship with Vasari is particularly significant. Affò uses the great sixteenth-century biographer as an essential source, but does not hesitate to challenge him when Parmense documentation or other testimonies seem to suggest different conclusions. The text also refers to Correggio, Raphael, Giulio Romano, Annibale Carracci, Agostino Carracci, and other protagonists of Italian painting, placing Parmigianino within the broader development of Renaissance mannerism. Affò pays particular attention to the painter’s “expression,” grace, and inventive capacity. In the photographed pages he reports the famous judgment that Parmigianino possessed a “great manner of good coloring,” excelled in invention and drawing, and was endowed with notable “gentleness” and “spirit.” The work also documents paintings, frescoes, and conservation histories as early as the eighteenth century, making it today useful not only as a biography of the artist but as a source on critical reception and the material history of Parmigianino’s works. BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR Ireneo Affò (Busseto, 1741 – 1797) was a Franciscan, historian, philologist, bibliographer, and art historian, among the leading savants of northern Italy in the late eighteenth century. His activity was closely linked to Parma, where he worked at the Palatine Library, of which he became librarian. He authored numerous studies on the political, literary, and artistic history of the Parmense territory and on Italian art. Affò’s method is particularly significant because it combines traditional erudition with increasing attention to documents, inscriptions, archival testimonies, and critical comparison of sources. Francesco Mazzola, called Parmigianino (Parma, 1503 – Casalmaggiore, 1540), was one of the most original painters and engravers of Italian Mannerism. His painting is characterized by extreme elegance, elongated proportions, refined formality, and a sophisticated and almost unreal conception of beauty. PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION The Life of the charming painter Francesco Mazzola called Parmigianino was published in Parma in 1784 by Filippo Carmignani and constitutes the first standalone edition of Affò’s important study. The volume is born in Bourbon-era Parma under Ferdinand of Bourbon, to whom the work is expressly dedicated. The Parma court in the second half of the eighteenth century was one of the most refined centers of European artistic and typographic culture. In the same milieu operated Giambattista Bodoni, director of the Royal Printing House, whose radical neoclassical concept of the printed page profoundly influenced Parma’s book production. This volume, though bearing Carmignani’s imprint rather than Bodoni’s Printing House, uses a typographic presentation and typefaces that fully belong to that graphic culture. It is therefore more correct, bibliographically, to describe it as “printed with Bodoni-tasted type” or “in the Parmense Bodonian printing milieu,” avoiding presenting it as an edition printed directly by Bodoni without specific documentary attestation. The publication fits into the eighteenth-century reevaluation of local painting schools and contributed to constructing Parmigianino’s modern critical fortune. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES ICCU – SBN, census of the Parmense edition of 1784 of Affò’s Vita del Parmigianino. WorldCat, bibliographic records of the first edition Parma, Filippo Carmignani, 1784. Palatine Library of Parma, catalogs of Ireneo Affò’s works and Parmense eighteenth-century typography. Bodoni Library, Parma, indices relating to Parmense typography culture of the late eighteenth century. Giorgio Vasari, Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori, life of Francesco Mazzola called Parmigianino. Giovanni Pietro Bellori, Le vite de’ pittori, scultori et architetti moderni, Italian historical-artistic tradition. Bibliographic repertoires dedicated to Francesco Mazzola, Parmigianino, to the Parmense school and to Italian Mannerism. Historical bibliography of Parmense printing and the activity of Filippo Carmignani in the eighteenth century.
Utropspris:SEK 2,240.7
Såld för:-
Visa alla föremål frånCatawikiellerBöcker, Kartor och Texter
Hammer price:
-
Utropspris:
SEK 2,240.7
Nå samlare över hela världen med din auktion!
Lista er auktionUppsk.: SEK 1,200
SERIETIDNINGAR, 57 st Fantomen, år 1950-56.
10/09/2026
SEK 1,400
Uppsk.: SEK 800
KARL XII:S BIBEL. 1703, samtida band.
10/09/2026
SEK 6,500
Uppsk.: SEK 6,000
