Lomazzo, Idea del tempio della pittura, Milan, 1590, contemporary limp vellum

Lomazzo, Giovanni Paolo. Idea del tempio della pittura di Gio. Paolo Lomazzo pittore. Nella quale egli discorre dell'origine, & fondamento delle cose contenute nel suo trattato dell'arte della pittura. Milan: Paolo Gottardo da Ponte, (1590)

First edition. This work was composed as an introduction to his longer Trattato dell'arte della pittura (lot 558). It uses seven recent artists as a frame on which to create his "temple": Leonardo, Mantegna, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, Polidoro da Caravaggio, and Lomazzo's idol, Gaudenzio Ferrari.

4to (207 x 155 mm). Roman type, 33 lines plus headline. collation: +⁸ A-L⁸ M⁴: 100 leaves. Woodcut medallion portrait of the author after Annibale Fontana on title-page, woodcut initials, typographical cartouches. (Slight damp-staining throughout, small wormholes in first quire.)

binding: Contemporary limp vellum (210 x 162 mm), title lettered across foot of textblock. (Upper hinge broken, lower hinge slightly torn, wormholes in binding.)

acquisition: Purchased in 2012 from Marlborough Rare Books, London. references: Edit16 24458